Smoke 'Em If You Got (A Prescription For) 'Em

Well, this is one form of smaller government...

Well then, why did this happen?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/02/a-rally-is-plan.html
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I read that legalizing it would be a net plus of 77 Billion a year. It would pay a third of the stimulus package over 4 years.

v. good news.
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On the other hand, A-Rod stands accused of having used steroids in 2003 when he was MVP.

The medical marijiana situation is a perfect example where the fault lines between 'Liberal' and 'Conservative' are exactly backwards and the ideology espoused by both parties is directly at odds with their actual desires.
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After all what is a better example of State's Rights than individual states deciding whether or not to criminalize arguably victimless behavior. And what is a better example of Federal overreach than interference with such decisions after they have already been made.
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To make it even more odd, when we switch to the issue of tobacco use, the roles instantly reverse. Unless I'm mistaken ,smoking bans and advertising limits are much more popular on the left than the right.
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The short version is simply this. When it comes to personal freedom, the Republicans are out and out liars and the Democrats are NOT to be trusted.
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Time for my favorite link:
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http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1097/ijge/gj-7.htm
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The administrations interest in all e-mail is a wholly unhealthy precedent, especially given this administrations track record on FBI files and IRS snooping. Every medium by which people communicate can be subject to exploitation by those with illegal intentions. Nevertheless, this is no reason to hand Big Brother the keys to unlock our e-mail diaries, open our ATM records, read our medical records, or translate our international communications.
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--John Ashcroft October 1997

Hot damn, now I just gotta go find me a shady doctor!!!
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Hey I wonder if our universal healthcare will cover a weed prescription...

Like I have said many times previously, the adults are finally in charge of the White House.

Dave's not here, man.

Paul Dirks, I think you're onto something. How depressing it is, too. Tobacco, marijuana, stimulus package, all of the rest of social and economic issues just matters of ideological affiliation and never really resolved. Gang warfare. Protecting turf. Jets and Sharks. We plod on through the fog.

Paul Dirks, I am perfectly content not to trust Democrats, but I have to disagree with a couple of your assertions.
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First off, I don't see why it is inherently liberal or conservative to favor states' prerogatives vs. federal ones. Republicans came to advocate "states' rights" because the Federal government was vindicating individual rights over the policies preferred by entrenched white elites (and many other whites besides). It was a tactic, not a philosophy. Ashcroft's tenure amply demonstrates that.
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Also, there's not necessarily any contradiction or hypocrisy in favoring (1) an end to marijuana prohibition and (2) advocating restrictions on advertising tobacco. Plus, I have been told that libertarians are divided on the smoking ban issue, because second-hand smoke infringes on the rights of bystanders.

Elvis, I think you just proved Paul Dirks point.

Republicans came to advocate "states' rights" because the Federal government was vindicating individual rights...
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That sort of reinforces the point I was making. The whole notion behind "States Rights" was a sham to allow racial discrimination to continue unabated. It has moved past it's original purpose but tha doesn't make it any less of a sham.

"Hot damn, now I just gotta go find me a shady doctor!!!"
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My friend in Cali says once you get the script you go to these places and it's like a candy store, and much, much cheaper than street prices. I might have to move back.

cinci
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I am seriously considering a trip to Cali if they put that sh*t in writing about not arresting people on medical marijuana charges anymore. They say the medicinal is pretty high grade too. Not dro or purple but still pretty potent. And hell if I can get it for a $5 dollar co pay, HOT DAMN!!!

Not only does medicinal marijuana treat a wide array of ailments, it could actually play a huge role in saving our economy out here in Cali-land:
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http://www.oaksterdamnews.net/content/view/287/10021/

Perfectly sensible and long overdue. As others have pointed out, this is a conservative position in the States' rights mode and strongly libertarian.
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I hope this is only the first step towards the legalization and regulation of marijuana. I don't know the precise numbers, but it is obvious that freeing up prison space and the criminal justice system from targeting, prosecuting and jailing consumers and suppliers of a not especially dangerous plant, coupled with a taxation and regulation regime that would deal a severe blow to organized crime, raise substantial revenue for the States and the Feds and bring a large black market economy into the open is a win-win situation.

There seems to be some cross in the discussion between recreational drug use and medical use. I think a problem with medical application in California is that head shops served as dispensors rather than pharmacies as with all medicines. Heroin is apparently the most effective medicine in the most extreme pain relief but the social prejudices in our country prevent even beginning a rational discussion of such application, even though it has been effectively used as a legal resource in the UK. Whatever they gave me when I had major surgery a few years ago left me mighty pleased, but I am sure it wasn't heroin, and I didn't become addicted to it. Just random thoughts. I applaud California as the cutting edge for everything from maryjane to stem cell research to emissions controls.

Of course Obama will have his lawless flacks in the Justice Department ignore federal law. The blood shot eyed stoners and drug peddlers who would be prosecuted under federal law are Obama voters.

textee, meanwhile, down at the Prairie Chapel Ranch, Bush the Little, Cheney, the neocons and other asundry arch nazis will be passin around tokes...as one of their flunkies, you can only wish you were there.

Actually, they are likely to be in Big D. I just like the name of the ranch, which served as a movie set for the neocon christian fraud while Little was in office. He won't spend any time there now.

What the heck is Textee doing posting? I thought he was still in the Obama re-education camp. Must have escaped.

Textee, the guy who looks like a bum walking the streets near where you go everyday is actually an Obama re-education director, he's got the intervention all set up and your friends or at least the one's you think are your friends are all in on the intervention. Enjoy the stay.. this time you will come out a bleeding heart liberal, or drown being waterboarded. One thing the Bushg administration taught us is that waterboarding isn't torture, it is a valuable interrogation tool. LOL X X X

Getting nostalgic for UC Santa Cruz, Michael?
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From Wikipedia:
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UC Santa Cruz is also well known for its marijuana culture. On April 20, 2007, approximately 2000 UCSC students gathered at Porter Meadow to celebrate the annual "420 day." Students and others openly smoked marijuana while campus police stood by.The once student-only event has grown since the city of Santa Cruz passed Measure K in 2006, an ordinance making marijuana use a low-priority crime for police. The 2007 event attracted a total of 5000 participants. The university does not condone the gathering, but has taken steps to regulate the event and ensure security for all participants.
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Of course, when I taught at URI in the mid-1970s, the "High Noon Club" met every day in front of the admin building.

If we legalize marijuana and prostitution and tax it properly this will be a lot shorter recession or depression. And we'll put lots of people to work. Think Grandma can now hook for the extra money to supplement her Social Security, instead of selling her beloved Hummel collection. And she won't be quite the burden to her kids. Or she can legally grow and sell marijuana and supplement her income that way. Just think Grandma Smith's Special High Octane Weed on sale at the local 7-11. There will be options!

newf --
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What did I say in JK's Legalize it thread?
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http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/02/04/legalize-it-already/?apage=1#comment-40083

No bullsh*t if they dropped the silly medicinal label on it then you could tax weed out the ying yang and it would be plentiful. Just imagine what you could do with a field when cats are growing crops of the sh*t in their garage. My family has some land in Mississippi and we could just plop seeds all over the place and reap the profits. Talk about getting us out of the recession. I mean they call it weed for a reason. That sh*t will go anywhere. And then just like with cigs you can have cheap blunts or high brow blunts. And I mean just add it to the alcohol laws. No toking and driving. No being high in public. Sheit talk about GREEN jobs. Man don't get me started.

Legalizing weed would be much more profitable than all of these lotteries and probably better for the country because people wouldn't be throwing away their life savings just trying to get lucky all the time. They would be too busy at home eating pizza and coming up with ways to improve the world.