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Christopher Ingraham writes in the Washington Post that many countries are taking a close look at what's happening in Colorado and Washington state to learn lessons that can be applied to their own situations and so far, the news coming out of Colorado and Washington is overwhelmingly positive. Dire consequences predicted by reform opponents have failed to materialize. If anything, societal and economic indicators are moving in a positive direction post-legalization. Colorado marijuana tax revenues for fiscal year 2014-2015 are on track to surpass projections.
Lisa Sanchez, a program manager at México Unido Contra la Delincuencia, a Mexican non-profit devoted to promoting "security, legality and justice", underscored how legalization efforts in the U.S. are having powerful ripple effects across the globe: events in Colorado and Washington have "created political space for Latin American countries to have a real debate [about drug policy]". She noted that motivations for reform in Latin America are somewhat different than U.S. motivations - one main driver is a need to address the epidemic of violence on those countries that is fuelled directly by prohibitionist drug war policies. Mexico's president has given signs he's open to changes in that country's marijuana laws to help combat cartel violence. Sandeep Chawla, former deputy director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, notes that one of the main obstacles to meaningful reform is layers of entrenched drug control bureaucracies at the international and national levels - just in the U.S., think of the DEA, ONDCP and NIDA, among others - for whom a relaxation of drug control laws represents an undermining of their reason for existence: "if you create a bureaucracy to solve a particular problem, when the problem is solved that bureaucracy is out of a job".
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday October 21 2014, @08:44PM
Well, I think it'll take 4 or 5 states before it catches on. That might be what GP was talking about.
Then the magic number is 38, because Congress doesn't want to be shown up in the event there's an Article V convention [wikipedia.org].
Exactly, when 4 or 5 states vote to legalize and tax recreational use, the rest will follow, because everyone will see that nothing bad happened, reefer madness did not set in, and traffic accidents actually went down.
And when I refer to the other states following, I don't refer to the "State Government" I refer to the people. In both Washington and Colorado, state government was dragged kicking and screaming to recreational use by voter initiates.
As for Congress not wanting to be shown up, I will remind you that Congress is not immutable, and voters will kick their asses out just as they did their state legislatures. The day when voters don't dare vote out "Good Ol Boys" because of the influential committees they sit on is slowly fading.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday October 21 2014, @09:16PM
Or more likely, they eye the tax revenue that Colorado has been making, money from heaven with no effort on their part and at worst minimal downside, and far more tax collected than they ever expected -- I think THAT will convince cash-strapped states, far more than any arguments over whether pot is safe or harmful or whatever.
I do wonder how much of the anti- propaganda is funded by foreign wholesalers who are presently making a killing exporting their weed to the U.S., whose profits would drop precipitously if the U.S. grew all its own weed (as it easily could).
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday October 21 2014, @09:26PM
I think the propaganda I've seen is coming from law enforcement at all levels.
I've seen a local officer with a straight face declare it a gateway drug. Not in 1985, just last month.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday October 21 2014, @10:01PM
Yeah I think we've all seen a local police union or police chief come out against marijuana decriminalization and repeat the "gateway drug" meme recently, with a few exceptions [wikipedia.org].
Here's a fun story [forbes.com] I just found.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday October 21 2014, @10:07PM
Likely so, but they don't have influence at the legislative level like a hired lobbyist does... I'm thinkin' the big wholesalers hire lobbyists.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday October 22 2014, @02:38PM
You think law enforcement doesn't have lobbyists? [tmpa.org]
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday October 22 2014, @02:49PM
Sure they do, but they certainly can't have the budget of the underground-drug industry.
And if anything, law enforcement lobbies for more and harsher laws, lest they be found surplus to society and downsized. So if anything, they're a bonus for anyone lobbying to protect their currently-illegal sales.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.