Marijuana.....

hey, something we totally agree on!

I love that pot is the thing that's finally going to bring everyone together in COJ.

I agree with that, but the world was a better place with him in it.  Side note.....my wife followed The Dead around the country for 2 years when she was a kid.....now she and my 16 year old liberal hippy kid make a few shows a year when they tour.  They don't let me go...which is fine, because I don't take them fishing.

The feds could imprison pregnant women who smoke pot and give them hard labor.

The Federal govt. is not in the drug enforcement business.....they are in the asset forfeiture business. Period.

I have little problem with criminal asset forfeiture which requires a criminal conviction and proof (burden on the Gov't) that the assets were gained through illicit activity. Civil asset forfeiture is much different and should not be allowed, IMHO.

Man.....look at all that dope!!! 

I could tell you a story or two about my cynicism. LMAO

No, it's the Feds.  Most states require local and state asset forfeitures go to the schools, etc.  We get around that by staffing Federal Task forces in the DEA, ATF, FBI, etc.  That way we can run the forfeitures through the Federal agencis on an 80/20 split.  80% for us, 20% for the Feds. 

Both sides of the "war on drugs" is simply about money.  ESPECIALLY marijuana.  Almost nobody is criminally prosecuted on the federal level for weed.....but man is it a cash bonanza.

I wholeheartedly agree that the failed war on drugs is primarily about money.  Many local agencies run forfeiture through the feds to avoid the state laws which require money to go into designated funds - they'd rather have 80% in their coffers than zero.  There is a push for reform on the state level, however there is noticeable and organized resistance from the agencies which benefit most from the forfeited funds.

Yeah, it's not widely known that Obama tried to stop it altogether last year.  In fact, all equitable sharing of seized assets was stopped for a period of time.  There was basically a mutiny from local departments, across the country, providing task force officers to the feds........it ended up being put back in place.  Nobody can tell me the "war on drugs" in not about money when the enforcement threatens to dry up once the money stops.  I've always been a proponent of calling it exactly what it is.......taking money from drug proceeds.....but no, we're fighting a "war".  LMAO

Let's legalize it, take the tax proceeds, and move on.  There is no war.

O.k.  So I will look at this from a different perspective.  

I do think it should be legalized...  But...

As someone living in Colorado,I do have some issues with legalized pot.  I hate the smell of Cigarettes, and I hate the smell of pot even more.  I am truly sad that you can't go anywhere without smelling pot now a days.  I was leaving the Mall the other day and the parking garage smelled like pot.  I was going to my daughters dance competition and smelled pot near the Auditorium.  I turned into my neighborhood the other day and the corner house reeked of pot.  You can't even go to any outdoor festivals because people are smoking pot.  I've seen people smoking in their cars.  Many of my favorite running trails seem to have lots of pot smokers on them.  I don't enjoy going to concerts anymore because even in indoor arenas people are smoking pot.  It sucks.

Yes, there are laws about where you can smoke, but guess what, people that smoke pot don't care.  And cops don't feel it's worth it to enforce the law.  So people like me who don't drink, don't smoke and don't do drugs suffer a decrease in my quality of life, and honestly I find myself furious that I have to put up with this stuff.

For the first time, I've considered moving from Colorado because it probably won't ever get better.

Let's be honest......your quality of life was pretty low before pot got legalized.

You have made a good point......that would suck to smell it everywhere.