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The Center for American Progress reports
On [February 27], days after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters to expect stricter enforcement of federal pot law, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recycled discredited drug war talking points in remarks of his own.
"I believe it's an unhealthy practice, and current levels of THC in marijuana are very high compared to what they were a few years ago, and we're seeing real violence around that", Sessions said. "Experts are telling me there's more violence around marijuana than one would think and there's big money involved."
In reality, violent crime rates tend to decrease where marijuana is legalized.
Denver saw a 2.2 percent drop in violent crime rates in the year after the first legal recreational cannabis sales in Colorado. Overall property crime dropped by 8.9 percent [PDF] in the same period there, according to figures from the Drug Policy Alliance. In Washington, violent crime rates dropped by 10 percent [PDF] from 2011 to 2014. Voters legalized recreational marijuana there in 2012.
Medical marijuana laws, which have a longer track record for academics than recreational pot legalization, are also associated with stable or falling violent crime rates. In one 2014 study of the 11 states that legalized medical pot from 1990 to 2006, there was no increase in the seven major categories of violent crime and "some evidence of decreasing rates of some types of violent crime, namely homicide and assault."
[...] Elsewhere in his remarks, Sessions unwittingly made the case against treating pot activity like serious crime. "You can't sue somebody for drug debt". he said. "The only way to get your money is through strong-arm tactics, and violence tends to follow that."
Legalizing, regulating, and taxing the sale of marijuana is the surest way to remedying that exact tendency for pot commerce to trigger violent score-settling. Legalization invites pot business into the light, granting cannabusinesses at least partial access to official modes of recourse when they are defrauded.
8 states and the District of Columbia have legalised marijuana for recreational use.
Ever see anyone use cannabis and become more aggressive rather than more mellow?
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(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday March 02 2017, @07:24PM (5 children)
tl;dr:
STIGGINIT!
this will be the end of us. petty little 'us vs them' wars will reduce us all to a 3rd world hellhole.
but hey, the conservatives are 'sticking it to us'. their little revenge war; the war that is literally destroying our common culture and freedoms.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday March 02 2017, @07:35PM (1 child)
If we're going to have a theocratic authoritarian government, like the conservatives want so much for us, then we might as well have a 3rd-world hellhole to go with it.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday March 02 2017, @09:45PM
drapes should match the carpet, I guess.
(lol?)
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday March 02 2017, @08:53PM (1 child)
All of this is literally why I know there is no future in America for me. I'm too old to fight robots for employment to serve fast food, and I'm incapable of working in a corporate environment without throttling the MBAs till their eyes pop from their sockets. I'm literally shaking with anger when I realize that the workers have less than a living wage, and those hell bound fuckers, somehow justify multiples of a living wage for their corporate contributions that have ruined society, our culture, and our country.
I've come to decide that life in the middle of Central America's jungles is a better retirement plan for me. In all seriousness, America IS becoming that third world hell hole we snobbishly ridiculed for 100+ years. So why shouldn't I just move to a "third world hell hole" now? A place where I have water, can grow my own *superior* quality food, and crime is non-existent. Not to mention beautiful, not polluted, and you can see the stars? Compare that to a shitty apartment on the bad side of town in a county where the average wage is a fraction of the average rent. I'm confused. Which one is the hell hole? Which one has income inequality? Which one has 8 people owning over 90% of the wealth again?
There's another article around here about how 7 people apply for every 1 job with a living wage. Do you know what that is? That's the dead canary in the cage warning you that the mine, in a very immediate sense, is no longer capable of supporting life.
Pretty much like America is no longer capable of supporting its citizens with a land of equal opportunity, freedom, and impartial justice.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday March 02 2017, @09:52PM
we have more than 7 applying for each job. its more like 10-100 and often can be more.
but of course, THERE IS A LABOR SHORTAGE. bring in more desis!
(damn. we all know this is wrong at every level, but those in control put their fingers in their ears and ignore all reason)
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday March 02 2017, @11:00PM
At first glance I read SIGINT and pictured Trump pressing ctrl-c on the terminal running /bin/America