The governor of Maryland finally legalized marijuana for medicinal use after his mother got cancer. He had to see the suffering first hand. b

jenncoolfla

Not to mention, here in CA we have a 3 strikes law. If someone has two strikes already and is busted for weed, they are in jail for life at the cost of $50,000/per prisoner/per year.

Imprisonment for smoking pot simply allows the greedsters to build more prisons for profit.  The privatization frenzy of, by and for the right has been driven to the point of insanity.  No one should go to jail for using pot.  But, as long as the holier than thou nuts are running the country, the jails will remain full of people who should not be there.

Only when the nuts are one of those who needs it, will the they ever change their attitudes.  There is a time and purpose for everything under the sun. 

I hope to God I never have to suffer the agonizing pain those who use medical marijuana need just to manage it. I'm not big on pot for recreational use, but if this plant can alleviate even some of the chronic pain thousands of people suffer every day, then they should be allowed the right to use it without harrassment.

jenncoolfla - well summed up. Prohibition didn't work and was repealed but not before thousands had been jailed, beaten, killed and havoc wreaked by creation of viscious black markets. Our version today is the drug cartels.

I am pretty certain these cartels are paying our leaders to keep mj an illegal substance. If it were ok to grow and use (like making your own beer and wine and consuming that) the drug lords would have to actually work for a living. It's easier for them and more fun for our leaders here to accept payola and keep things status quo.

It would ease so many problems for our burdened society to decriminalize mj. Prisons could empty out, judges and courts would be able to actually prosecute rapists, murders and violent offenders, these could be kept for their full sentences because the prisons weren't 20-40% over maximum capacity, black markets go bust, the states could earn a few tax dollars, hell, there's many more pros than cons to this idea.

Is there anybody listening??

Good news, bad news. Bad news: Gotta pull the plug on Granny because the healthcare system is broken. Good news: Granny will now be so high she won't give a hoot.

Absolutely ridiculous that in the year 2009 the United States is still dealing with their draconian pot laws.

Time to get out of the dark ages and face the new world head on.

If the gov't legalized Marijuana use AND also encouraged the growth of HEMP we could pay for Nat'l healthcare for ALL citizens and THEN some. Bureaucrats can't think when their heads are planted firmly inside their A$$ES.

This ruling comes from an Administration whose leader (OBama) admitted "experimenting" with Cocaine.  While I support the Medical Use of any substance to alleviate the pain and suffering of those in "end stage" illnesses, I do not support the Marijuana Clubs.  Who pays for the treatment for those who find that pot no longer meets their needs, they become addicted to not only pot, but Meth, Coke, PCP,etc.. Are they going to pay for their own rehabs. or are the already overburdened tax payer going to pay the bill ? ? 

If we are not careful incarceration will be Americas number one industery. Since factory jobs are leaving the country faster than the illegals are arriving.

JoeB,

Even though it's ridiculous that you think using pot leads to meth, coke, and PCP use, it's not your fault. With so much negative propoganda being shoved down our throats, it's hard to know what's true regarding the drug. Ganja is not a gateway drug. In fact, the only arguement to be made in support of that belief revolves around the fact that pot is illegal, and thus, you may be offered other drugs from the shady character you're buying it from. The fact that almost 90% of people reading this article think that mary-jane is safe enough to be legal (at least for medical purposes) really shows us how silly the war against this multi-purpose plant really is.

When's the last time near 90% of the people who normally fight on this websight agreed on anything??

If you would execute them. You will save lots of money.

Just imagine if we did....hell....with all the money saved......we could knock out the defecit.......

it should be legalized...i remember watchin on the history channel only reason it is ILLEGAL is because of our cornoa drinkn neighbors i so love...but immigration is wat from im seein or being "TOLD" as we learn or how were told in school y things are such or how they went n happened..we all see the positive in helping with the medical postion of drowing out pain and helping with our appetite...it can b broken down into so many diffrent things and ways to help personally n more out n a wider thought as we kno hemp and oils can be made...it can n should b tax n profittd off of just as alcohol which is next to be just as worse as a newport or damn marborol with all the plexi glass n other toxic @!$%# u feed us...maybe even if we wre able to smoke a lil amercia wouldnt be so obiese but still if its legal in one state y not all...WE ARE AMERICA AND WE ARE ALL THE SAME LIVING WALKING BREATHING PEOPLE...y wait till someone in your family has to suffer to want to do somethin..(wat ever happend to the GO GREEN movement)..the pain killers and such we get leave u even worse off cuz ur body becomes so immune to it n keeps u up while pot..makes u happy..u laugh n u eat...poop then sleep...n imagine a high mofo tryn to run from the cops....his ass aint gonna make it far unless he a crack head n he runnin wit his pipe..i just find that there is so much to be said n can be done if marijauna would be legalized n i feel wat both sides are sayin about not legalizin it becuase of wat they think but havin those thoughts arent bad but finding out wat works n is good and knowin it is even better....its kinda like me tellin the grinch to have a heart n smile but he's so not use to the feeling n doesnt kno better that when he smiles n feels good it scares him n like b carpenter stated....when do u EVER get a majority of america to agree on anything

bibol

If you would execute them. You will save lots of money.

LFT in Texas -1421785

Just imagine if we did....hell....with all the money saved......we could knock out the defecit.......

You guys want to wipe out the deficit by waging a civil war? thats real smart...

I agree with you regarding the decriminilization of reefer... my biggest argument for the legalization of pot is knowing how much damaging liquor is and how much more deadly tobacco is, yet both are legal as buying a loaf of bread. Something wrong here...

However, I'm a bit confused over your math...$540 x 847,863 = $457,846,020. I'm assuming that the 847,863 is the number of Florida inmates, or is it the number of inmates convicted of pot possession or use?

due to paranoia and related stress caused by the illegality of cannabis, it is likely that there is more health risk because of the law, than the actual risk of its use.that should be unconstituional!

Its insane that you cry after having been arrested. YOU knew it was against the law and did it anyway. Waaaaaaaaaaaaa

We are citizens of the USA...We are not allowed to question our leader, remember?

Being a citizen of the USA means we have every right to question our leaders.

And to remove them from power even by force when no other choice is available. Thus the right to bear arms. Founding fathers new what they were doing...

here here!!! say I the founding fathers understood the rights of an armed citizenry not only against outside invaders but against a tyrannical inside government as well

So then why didn't we rise up against the illegal Bush regime?

agreed.

The time has come to just legalize it and move on. This should be a no brainer. There is more harm to keep it unlegal then to legalize it.

Kids get it now. Where do you think a lot of adults go to buy it.....from the kids!! Alcohol related deaths will statistically hold up against any deaths by pot. This could be a cash cow for the states. For heavens sake just legalize it already.

The adults I know purchase from adults.

It's a pernicious lie that the government never does anything right. If you want to live in anarchy, great, but I prefer civilization. That means government.

How about, "the government does very little that turns out to be right"?

THERE ARE NO, COUNT THEM, NO MARIJAUNA RELATED DEATHS ON RECORD. And you dont hear about anyone getting high and beating their spouse...maybe in pac-man, but thats it. Funny, I can go to a drive thru liquor store and buy booze and cigarettes, massive killers of Americans, but that is legal. Can I stay home and smoke a joint, maybe work in the garden, play a little music? NO...the biggest cash crop in the country and we dont even profit from it! ha!

I agree, alcohol and cigarettes are the same. People get hung up on the misuse of MJ. People misuse alcohol, cigarettes, and PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. There are people who aren't comfortable taking narcotics for pain bc of the risks.

The job of enforcing controlled substances (like pot, narcotics, alcohol) is spelled out in the constitution and through acts like the ones that established the FDA and US dept of agriculture. and it gives legal authority to regulate these things to specific agencies like ATF, DEA, FDA, etc. And there are studies that show long term use is more damaging then cigarettes and alcohol combined. But when you're looking at relief from cancer and treatments, it is a small sacrifice.

mwc77, It is against federal law to use or possess marijuana. Therefore, they can prosecute anyone in the United States for breaking that federal law. I think the states can have laws more stringent than federal law, but not more lenient. My understanding is, the federal government can pick and choose what cases it wants to take on based on federal law being broken, even if the state law has also been broken. Vice versa, they can choose not to prosecute and let the state prosecute instead.

There is certainly more credible research that needs to be conducted on the long term use of marijuana. Many of the past studies have been biased or poorly populated with candidates. However, the heavy use of any substance will ultimately lead to consequence.

As far as the legality of marijuana it all dates back to the 20's when the government passed the Marijuana Tax Act; therefore, abolishing the growing of hemp in this country. During the same time, the Dupont Corporation had developed the technology to make plastic out of oil. The hemp plant was in competition with plastic due to the high cellulose content of the plant.

Hemp, which is a variety of marijuana has the ability to solve all of our energy needs. The oil, fiber, and seed of the plant is used for textiles, plastics, fuel, lubricants, and food. The government once encouraged farmers to grow hemp in this country.

The casual smoking of marijuana was once accepted in this country. It is only a matter of time before it is once again accepted.

How about the 0th amendment...the constitution. Freedom to pursue happiness :)

no it is not spelled out in the constitution the federal government bastardized the laws to regulate foreign trade and since most drugs came from foreign sources they were able to pass restictrions on them and further usurp the citizens of the states power to choose what they do within their borders

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out. It's good to know those in law enforcement see the incredible waste of resources expended on prohibition of marijuana. It seems the majority of people agree and it's time that all of us who think this way let our elected representatives know. Otherwise they'll never have the political courage to address this issue.

LEAP has never said nor NORML or any other group have come out and said the marijuana laws are unreasonable laws that affect indivdual rights to privacy, to liberty or property secured by the 4th and 5th Amends. Criminal laws are to protect you from me and me from u.

You are missing the point here. It is only criminal because someone said it is criminal and passed a law. Who is going to protect us from the Yous that want to tell the rest of us what to do? Where will this stop? Already they are trying to tax juice drinks and soda. Someone could decide they are not good for us and make it illegal. So think of all of those home-brew root beer brewers and the drinkers of root beer who would end up in jail. And what if they said you couldn't squeeze your orange and drink the juice but had to eat the orange. Yeah, the fiber is better for you in conjuction with the juice, but then you would need another beverage with your breakfast and would you get thrown in jail for squeezing it and drinking it? Think about this folks. One day, if we are no longer corporeal, then none of this will make a darned bit of difference. But meanwhile, my body myself. Period!

Um Marci.....calm down. No one is going to send you to jail for drinking a glass of orange juice. "Juice drinks" are fruit-flavored drinks that are loaded with sugar and artificial ingredients and most don't have one ounce of real fruit in them. Instead of going off on a ridiculous tangent that because something is taxed it will become illegal, instead why not take some personal responsibility and stop poisoning your body with crap if you don't want to pay tax on it. Many things in this country that aren't good for you are taxed - they're not necessities, they're luxuries. Believe it or not, if you had to you could survive without Coke or KoolAid. Oh wait - if you watch Glenn Beck, perhaps not.....never mind.

Amen! And I'm not even religious!

The term "medical use" is far too broad. I can't morally refuse pot to someone who is dying, but I sure can morally refuse it to someone who has "headaches". Whether you like it or not, human nature will gravitate towards this result.

Pot ruins lives! End of story.

Beats all the prescription drugs people are on for anxiety, depression, etc...

Pete come on let's be real people ruin lives not pot.I have smoked mj for 25 years run my own business [doing well thank you] put my wife and two kids thru college and have a very successful life that I am Happy with.ALL while smoking pot.Lets quit finding excuses for lazy unsuccessful people.

Beautifully put cheif! I'm getting myself through college and have NO more problems than the others who don't smoke the herb. College is hard either way. People who are lazy because of smoking should be judged on their character, not because they smoke pot. I will assure you I can accomplish more on pot than some people ever will off of it.

Pot ruins lives? Nope. Only when marijuana users get arrested, and then have to spend time and money in court fighting these unfair charges. I know that cigarettes and alcohol ruin lives much more often! My mother died of lung cancer as a DIRECT result of years of smoking cigarettes, which are legal. My cousin was drinking and driving, and a young woman passenger in his car was killed in an accident as a result. I know many more people who have problems related to excessive drinking, smoking cigarettes, abuse of prescription drugs and over consumption of COFFEE!! All these substances are physically addictive, pot is not! Legalize marijuana and tax it! This would be an excellent cash crop for small farmers who have been pushed out of their livelyhoods by corporate farms... marijuana would grow well in most regions of the country. Legalize and TAX marijuana just like tobacco and alcohol!

Sorry to be a wet rag here, but I've personally witnessed lives going downhill after longterm use of pot. It's not they go down some evil path (that's a stupid generalization), but so many people I knew just grew utterly apathetic and unmotivated and pretty much stayed in one place from their early 20's onward in a perpetual fog of apathy and waiting for the next high. Most of them are amazingly intelligent and are good people, so I have a hard time judging them on their character. However, I do agree that if alchohol is legal, pot should be too. The same rules should apply, both to it's availability and consequences of its abuse (DUI, etc.).

Like anything else, it all depends on the person. I believe that alcohol, cigarettes, and many prescription drugs are much worse for people than pot. Research in countries that legalized pot long ago have found NO correlation between pot smoking and hard drug use. Pot is not a "gateway drug" - it is the illegal, criminal element that is responsible for the connection of pot with other drugs. Most research has shown that pot has no long term negative health impact - if it is not smoked - but eaten, vaporized, or taken in some other form. The only long term damage is from the smoke.

Also, many pot users like myself are responsible, well-educated, employed citizens who aren't harming anyone. I have multiple college degrees - work a professional job that requires more than 40 hours a week - and do volunteer work in my community. I fail to see where I have been damaged. And such a HUGE waste of our limited resources to prosecute people - this money would be much better spent on education, health care, social services, job creation - just to name a few things I would rather have than Green Harvest (the federal/state pot busters in Hawaii).

The government will legalize it and still make it a criminal offence to grow your own.

I am still trying to figure out why it is still not legal when there is so much to gain from legalizing it. Maybe it is because there is no way to tell if someone is on it if they are pulled over like alcohol. ???

If mj is legalized the pharmacuidical companys would lose alot of money. Which means the goverment loses money. Why would people take synthetic drugs that cost money. When the could grow it in there backyard like a weed for nothing. You can grow tomatoes and smoke those if you want why not mj. What's the problem here. Don't knock it ti'll you've tried it. I just can't understand why you can't grow your own and smoke it. Who are you hurting. oh ya the pharmasuidical companys and the goverment. Now i get it.

The government violates the law to keep marijuana illegal? Ask yourself why is marijuana illegal, a crime?

Actually it illegal so that rich people can sell there trees to the paper industry

Rather than enforcing drug laws the Border Patrol needs to be able to return to stopping the flow of illegal humans coming across the border. That was their reason for being in the first place.

Marijuana wouldn't be illegal had it not been for the rabid paranoia of William Randolph Hearst, which culminated in the production of the cult comedy, 'Reefer Madness', which is one of the biggest lies to come out of Washington, D.C. right after 'Let me be clear about this'.

It is tyranny when the american juduiciary denys that these criminal laws threaten your daughter's freedom, her liberty by the enforcement of these laws If the lawyers and judges did recognize injury to our ifundamental rights secured by the 4th and 5th Amendments the government would be required to show the laws to be reasonable, to demonstrate a compelling state interest. Google Ravin v Alaska

But judicial review of these laws has been rational review, because marijuana is not a fundamental right.