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Best Federal Marijuana legislation ever


PeteKleinow

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Excerpt from some blog I ran across.

Happy people that do nothing? :huh:

Amsterdam is what I expected. This country is very proud of being liberal and tolerant; at times during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the Netherlands was the only place where intellectual thought of any integrity was done. The sanctuary given to minds like Spinoza and Descartes only confers honor to the Dutch.

However, this distinguished tradition of political sanctuary in a religiously bigoted and oppressive world has turned into a kind of legal loophole for the members of fringe communities. Drugs, while technically illegal, are tolerated here in small amounts. Hence, there is a large drug culture (a vegatory drug culture) and there are supposedly bad addiction problems and the resultant crime. It is almost as if all the hard core druggies of Western Europe and the U.S. flock to Amsterdam where there are no hassles and other similarly minded drug groupies. Many of these people are destitute and wasted away. In the Red Light District, one is constantly harassed by drug dealers (almost all entirely black, for some reason) on the street, "Hash, coke, ecstasy?" Prostitution is legal, and when one walks down the famous Red Light District one sees women sitting in lingerie by windows and if one likes what one sees, there is a door right to the side of the window. The door opens and the drapes are drawn across the window and business is transacted. Of course, it would be a rarity that a beautiful or desirable woman would be found in this vice sink. Most of the women are black, fat, ugly and cheap looking in the usual garish prostitute fashion. There are also various theme areas: all oriental women to one side, sado-masochism on another, etc.

The whole thing is somewhat degrading - to the men whose naked lust necessitates a visit to a prostitute to the women who sleep with men for the money which they need to survive. As I write this, I am sitting on a park bench in this district where I have spent the last hour watching and writing while waiting for my clothes to be washed. A despondent black man going through some kind of hysterical delirium (drug withdrawal?) is writhing in pain on the bench next to me, being half consoled and half assaulted by a friend. I have measured the amount of time between when the men enter the door next to the prostitute to when they leave and the drapes are thrown wide open again and she is open for business again. It averages about 15 minutes; I guess they dispense with the foreplay! This whole scene disgusts me after having spent a whole afternoon in it. To be fair, there are many little bars and restaurants here that are legitimate. It is funny: this Red Light District is so well known that it is a tourist attraction and tourists clutter the streets and alleys! I guess it is inevitable that a tolerant and permissive situation like that of the Netherlands would ultimately come to be abused and the people irresponsible with their extraordinary freedom.

This experiment in permissiveness is interesting. There is a whole lot of prostitution, drugs, and vice in the American cities but it is not out in the open (at least not like it is here). I can admire the lack of hypocrisy in Amsterdam but the public acknowledgement of the legitimacy of vice seems to encourage and add to the vice itself. From a bastion of political and intellectual freedom, Amsterdam has become a refuge for drug addicts and drug culture. Incredibly, this has prompted the tolerant Dutch into cracking down with the police! I would imagine that the Amsterdam police have a strange and dangerous beat here but they are the only cops (outside N. Ireland, which is different) I have seen yet who look like they mean business. It seems, even where they are legal or tolerated, that drugs breed violence. It is poignant that my brother, who has had bitter and damaging problems with drugs and alcohol, is most adamantly against the legalization of drugs. Sometimes I think back in the States we should legalize drugs and let all the fools who are going to kill themselves do it and be done with it. It is like that laboratory rat that can give itself drugs by hitting a bar in front of him and proceeds to do so continuously until it dies. Essentially, addicts are no different. There are no free lunches or miracle cures in this world and the transient pleasure from drugs is usually paid for in one way or another. I have no pity for today's lotus eaters who are so blithe to embark upon their Faustian agreement (pleasure for your soul). I am so tired of the argument that chemical dependency is a "medical disease" which discounts so much personally responsibility. People know the stuff is dangerous in the beginning but eiither refuse to believe it or gravitate towards it for exactly that reason. It is sad that people are so prone to abuse the extraordinary freedom they have here. And it is precisely because so many of my generation have been so damaged by drugs and alcohol that I have so little pity for them. The Dutch youth seem comfortable and liberal. This plus the foreign drug-types gives Amsterdam a 60's counter-culture feel. There are people sitting around stoned, playing guitars and singing in groups, being "free," socially concerned, etc. I am not really sure why but this really bugs me. This species of "cleverness" and moral aloofness with its condescension, naivete, and youthful ebullience. I am living in "the" druggie hostel and am enjoying it, despite the seaminess of it. One thing you can say for druggies is that they are generally mellow, leave you alone, and are easy to mix with. Most of the people go across the street to the "Grasshopper" coffee shop all the time and then return to the hostel stoned until the buzz wears off which means another visit to the Grasshopper, and the cycle repeats itself over and over. Many of my roommates have been in Amsterdam for a week or more and have not deviated from this routine in the slightest and have not ventured out at all to see metropolitan Amsterdam.

Sounds like a very bitter, racist jerk to me.

He best go home if he doesn't like it.

Sounds like a wonderful place to me.

:)

*drug groupies? :blink::slapface: * lolol

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  • 6 months later...

In the best legislation for Medical Marijuana EVER handed down, the new Attorney General, Eric Holder, says the states can now be free to enact, enforce and regulate the weedy industry.

Finally, after all these years, progress has been made for the usage of marijuana by those who truly benefit from it. Higher minds have finally prevailed. There will be obstacles to overcome in getting this to the level of operation desired, but now the pressure is gone and local laws will be the rule of the day.

The last time there was anything positive toward decriminalization or medical marijuana from the Feds was Jimmy Carter's suggestion and endorsement of a $100 maximum fine for possession back in the late 1970's. This new action is the first real advance to happen, not just talked about.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29433708

That's right Pete! Further progress from today,

gprolarge.gif;)

Feds to Stop Prosecuting Medical Marijuana Users

Federal government won't prosecute medical marijuana users if they comply with state law

By DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON October 19, 2009 (AP)

Pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers should not be targeted for federal prosecution in states that allow medical marijuana, prosecutors were told Monday in a new policy memo issued by the Justice Department.

Under the policy spelled out in a three-page legal memo, federal prosecutors are being told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law.

The guidelines issued by the department do, however, make it clear that federal agents will go after people whose marijuana distribution goes beyond what is permitted under state law or use medical marijuana as a cover for other crimes.

The memo advises prosecutors they "should not focus federal resources in your states on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana."

The new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes.

"It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

By the government's count, 14 states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Some medical marijuana advocates say Maryland shouldn't be included in that group, because the law there only allows for reduced penalties for medical marijuana usage.

California stands out among those for the widespread presence of dispensaries — businesses that sell marijuana and even advertise their services. Colorado also has several dispensaries, and Rhode Island and New Mexico are in the process of licensing providers, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that promotes the decriminalization of marijuana use.

more:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=8859156

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since I live in CO I have a front row seat for this as it plays out. We have over 1000 dispenseries where registered medical MJ patients can legally buy MJ. So far it's been pretty disorganized. I have been against it in the past but have changed my views after talking with a few people that are registered patients. Like most I was sure it was a cover for stoners but the two people in the program had the same reservations I did and were in favor of regulations that keep it amongst those who REALLY need it. Like anything there are going to be some bad apples, drugs and alcohol aren't necessary to bring out the freaks, America's churches are proof of that. It's a step in the right direction thats going to need tweaking just to be be half right.

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