Washington State legalizes Marijuana

gotrocks · #1 11-07-2012, 02:21 AM

(I posted this in off-topic as well, but i figured *someone* would want to post pics of pot in this thread, which is definetly NSFW)
My state passed a law legalizing Marijuana today - something that I think has been a long time coming. The amount of money spent on putting pot heads through the legal system and into jails is absolutely ridiculous compared to the amount of money we could be making from them instead.

Opponents of this kind of thing claim that legalizing Marijuana will lead to rampant drug use and a general collapse of society. Most of them ignore the fact that a far, far more dangerous drug, alcohol, has been legal for decades without bringing about the end of the country. The bottom line is people who smoke pot will still smoke pot, and people who dont still wont. You *might* get some new smokers from this, and yes some of them may in fact be teenagers, but opponents are once again ignoring an important fact while they bleat about how easy it will be for teenagers to obtain pot now - it was *always* harder to get alcohol as a teenager than it was to get Marijuana. Why? Because it was state controlled. You couldn't just call up Ricky the local leather jacket wearing motorcycle riding 17 year old badass to get a bottle of liquor. You had to find someone who was 21 to buy it for you, which, while possible, was not nearly as easy as calling Ricky. If anything its going to be harder for kids to buy weed now.

I fully support this law, 100%. I don't even smoke pot anymore, haven't for a long time (though i was certainly a huge pot smoker for a very long time). But once again i do believe this is LONG overdue. And I am absolutely going to celebrate by taking a trip down to the local dispensary with my gf and pick up a bag of some potent strain of Indica (my girl can't smoke sativa), find my pipe (I know its around here somewhere, i never got rid of it) and blaze a bowl for all the potheads who no longer have to worry about spending a night in jail for doing the same thing most people do when they drink a beer, relax.

Way to go Washington - I hope you're leading the way to a nationwide change. A very profitable one. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]!

Hasbinlulz · #2 11-07-2012, 02:23 AM

colorado too! they have it the same as alcohol now!!

Shannacore · #3 11-07-2012, 02:24 AM

As did Colorado. What are the specifics for Washington?

IIRC it's maximum of 2oz and 21+ in Colorado.

Hasbinlulz · #4 11-07-2012, 02:24 AM

supposedly any liqour store can sell pot now in colorado (disregarding federal law)

Hasbinlulz · #5 11-07-2012, 02:25 AM

and if they do, it's taxed and the whole bit

kenzar · #6 11-07-2012, 02:27 AM

can you grow it w/o any sort of licensing/regulations? Unless you can, I wouldn't really consider it a true legalization, its a regulatory system. don't get me wrong its a step in the right direction for sure, I just wanted to get some clarification on you are calling 'legalized'

Shannacore · #7 11-07-2012, 02:31 AM

Gonna be hilarious all the people in Colorado who get busted for weed in the next few weeks who don't realize it doesn't go into effect until next year.

dredge · #8 11-07-2012, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenzar [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

can you grow it w/o any sort of licensing/regulations? Unless you can, I wouldn't really consider it a true legalization, its a regulatory system. don't get me wrong its a step in the right direction for sure, I just wanted to get some clarification on you are calling 'legalized'

seriously, decriminalize it, take all the laws about it off the books and quit making all these schemes to make the distributors rich

and while your at it let all the non-violent drug offenders out of prison

gotrocks · #9 11-07-2012, 02:48 AM

Kenzar, its as 'legalized' as alcohol, and will follow almost identical regulations (IE; you must be liscensed to sell it, and im assuming to grow it, unlike brewing alcohol).

Shanna, in WA its 21+ and up to an oz at a time, which is plenty [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

More details will be hashed out in the coming months, but for now, its pretty clear you'll be able to walk into a dispensary, show you're over 21, and buy a bag.

Seems fairly legal to me.

As a side note, as hasbin pointed out, federal law prohibits any kind of drug use (this included medical marijuana that has been legal for some time now). What does that mean? pretty much the same thing its meant for medical marijuana, which is that the DEA will still be coming in and shutting down dispensaries on a regular basis. Users will be largely unaffected.

I'm not going to get into it now, but that federal law is now breaking (and has been breaking) our state laws. When the DEA comes in and shuts down a dispensary, its not uncommon for WA State police officers to inform the DEA that they are breaking the law.

Drug regulations need to be left up to the states, not the federal government - this has been argued for decades, and I honestly do see a change in federal drug regulations in the near future. If you look at the history of that particular act its pretty plain to see it was a load of bullshit that it was ever passed in the first place. It never should have happened.

gotrocks · #10 11-07-2012, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shannacore [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Gonna be hilarious all the people in Colorado who get busted for weed in the next few weeks who don't realize it doesn't go into effect until next year.

/ageee [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]