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The real winner of this election cycle: Mary Jane
Just thought you all might be interested, but marijuana has just been legalized (yes, legalized, not just decriminalized) in the states of Colorado and Washington. It was up on the ballot in three states, failing to pass in Oregon. In addition medical marijuana is now legalized in Massachusetts, and marijuana has been decriminalized in the Detroit municipal area.
It is true, of course, that the federal government will continue to prosecute marijuana cases. HOWEVER, it will be extremely difficult for them to enforce the law in states in which local authorities do not participate...as this article points out, out of 750,000 marijuana arrests last year (mostly for possession), 99% were carried out by state or local cops.
So it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
"Win, lose or draw...long as you squabble and you get down, that's gangsta."
I don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. I myself am strongly against marijuana usage (including that of any other illicit drug), and I always would have thought that other communists would be the same. Apparently not, though, from what I have seen on this forum.
That's great, but it doesn't really matter to me. I'm not 12 years old anymore, I got shit to do.
Any real change implies the breakup of the world as one has always known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, the end of safety. And at such a moment, unable to see and not daring to imagine what the future will now bring forth, one clings to what one knew, or dreamed that one possessed. Yet, it is only when a man is able, without bitterness or self-pity, to surrender a dream he has long possessed that he is set free - he has set himself free - for higher dreams, for greater privileges.”
-James Baldwin
"We change ideas like neckties."
- E.M. Cioran
I think that, regardless of one's personal feelings towards marijuana, the fact that the 750,000 figure of people getting handed down punishments (everything from being inconvienced to long terms of imprisonment) simply for using the marijuana may, MAY get somewhat dented (not just because of these states, but the influence this policy will have on other states) is definitely a good thing.
"Win, lose or draw...long as you squabble and you get down, that's gangsta."
Of course.
Any real change implies the breakup of the world as one has always known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, the end of safety. And at such a moment, unable to see and not daring to imagine what the future will now bring forth, one clings to what one knew, or dreamed that one possessed. Yet, it is only when a man is able, without bitterness or self-pity, to surrender a dream he has long possessed that he is set free - he has set himself free - for higher dreams, for greater privileges.”
-James Baldwin
"We change ideas like neckties."
- E.M. Cioran
Regardless of your feelings towards cannabis, one only has to look at the usage trends of the Netherlands to know that making pot illegal has nothing to do with it not being smoked.
BANS GOT YOU PARANOID? I MADE A GROUP FOR YOU! http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1349 NOW OPEN FOR EVERYBODY!!!
"Think for yourself; question authority." - Timothy Lenin
Why are you against marijuana usage?
I guess people will be too fucking high and disgusting and slummy and lumpen to take part in proletarian revolution.
'despite being a comedy, there's a lot of truth to this, black people always talking shit behind white peoples back. Blacks don't give a shit about white, why do whites give them so much "nice" attention?'
- Top Comment on the new Youtube layout.
EARTH FOR THE EARTHLINGS - BULLETS FOR THE NATIVISTS
Yes. Soon you'll be able to buy pot on the above-ground market as you do a magazine. A major victory for socialists everywhere.
It really is like the pizza-party shit I've seen described. 'Pissed off about how you're being treated? Want to set up a protest? Have a pizza (and don't complain)!'
'despite being a comedy, there's a lot of truth to this, black people always talking shit behind white peoples back. Blacks don't give a shit about white, why do whites give them so much "nice" attention?'
- Top Comment on the new Youtube layout.
EARTH FOR THE EARTHLINGS - BULLETS FOR THE NATIVISTS
We will never be able to emulate the magnificent glorious comrade Aleksei Stakhanov if we're stoned all the time!
*shrug* Doesn't have much to do with socialism, communism, revolution etc. Still newsworthy, though, and it could probably be argued that it represents growing cracks in the war on drugs, an institution that is very detrimental, in many communities throughout the USA and also internationally.
"Win, lose or draw...long as you squabble and you get down, that's gangsta."
I was thinking of moving somewhere, Washington seems pretty cool right now
We claim to live and die equal, the way we were born: we want this real equality or death; that’s what we need.
And we’ll have this real equality, at whatever price. Unhappy will be those who stand between it and us! Unhappy will be those who resist a wish so firmly expressed.
The French Revolution was nothing but a precursor of another revolution, one that will be bigger, more solemn, and which will be the last.
-Gracchus Babeuf
That is a good point. De-criminalizing marijuana would be a much better alternative to keeping it a criminal offence, especially since marijuana isn't necessarily something that will ruin people and cause violence.
On a personal level, I am against drugs because of some issues that friends and family have had with it. On broader scale, I feel that the consumption of marijuana and other depressants/hallucinogens (including sweet, sweet alcohol) has no real benefit for the working class, and if anything only inhibits their productivity. Wouldn't turning up stoned/drunk to work, staying home to get stoned, symptoms of withdrawal etc. be considered by most communists as detrimental to the working class? Potentially some might say that this has its benefits in fighting capitalism, but in a socialist or even communist society I see this as a huge detriment and problem.
Then again, perhaps once we have reached our glorious red utopia the usage of drugs and consumption of alcohol will become pointless, for we would live in eternal working bliss.
I should also point out my personal distaste for the hippie subculture as one of the reasons of my Anti-Drug attitude. Damn them and their long hair and colorful clothing!
Smoking weed at 12?
That sounds horrible
Can we not do that
Maine and Maryland legalise gay marriage too
"But like Trotskyites working with fascists in the USSR to plant no warning bombs to rip out the lungs of Soviet children from their tiny rib cages you will probably choose to turn a blind eye." - RedSunRising
RIP tech,you will be missed
Marxist Book Resource
Voters in Washington and Colorado legalize recreational marijuana
Mod post: Originally posted this as a thread and then saw this one; so I merged them.
Colorado has legalised the usage & regulation of marijuana. It is to be regulated in a way similar to alcohol, and the growing, production, possession, sale and usage of marijuana are to be totally legalised in the state of Colorado.
The following article states that a similar measure passed in Washington state as well.
Snippet from article:
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/m...-election.html
Here is the wikipedia article on Colorado's ballot measure:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorad..._64_%282012%29
Also I think it's worth mentioning on the topic of ballot initiatives, it appears that the death penalty is going to be banned in California. Hell yes!
@Karabin: You might be against it but my position is this; it doesn't matter whether you personally are against it or not. If somebody wants to smoke or drink, it's up to them. It's their decision. I firmly believe in personal sovereignty - that is, we own our own bodies, and therefore it is our decision what goes into them so long as they are not directly harming another person. As a result I do not believe it is the government's business to decide whether somebody can smoke marijuana or not, especially when health-wise, it is no more harmful than alcohol or tobacco. Furthermore, I don't think it's our job as revolutionary leftists to decide what people put into their bodies - I want us to have more freedom, not less.
Last edited by Yazman; 7th November 2012 at 14:22. Reason: Merged threads.
Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice. -George Jackson
There is no such thing as an innocent bystander. -Abbie Hoffman
Unfortunately states don't really have a say on this sort of thing. It's unconstitutional until the constitution gets a new amendment.
sounds like a good strike action to me
'heavens above, how awful it is to live outside the law - one is always expecting what one rightly deserves.'
petronius, the satyricon
woot woot! cant wait till Canada legalizes (if it'll ever happen..) sick of seeing people locked up for a little green.
heres to hopeful legalisation in USA, Canada and all countries
more drugs less laws
Weed is completely different from all other drugs, in that it is as addicting as Asparin, with just as many side effects! This is great news, the war on drugs is code for the war on ethnic minorities, and shedding the false views on drugs and criminality held by the american public is in my opinion a good thing.
Let's hope this domino effects into california, where the country's largest prison population is (I think). 6x more Black Youth are arrested for weed than white people, so this would be a step forward.
For student organizing in california, join this group!
http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1036
http://socialistorganizer.org/
"[I]t’s hard to keep potent historical truths bottled up forever. New data repositories are uncovered. New, less ideological, generations of historians grow up. In the late 1980s and before, Ann Druyan and I would routinely smuggle copies of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution into the USSR—so our colleagues could know a little about their own political beginnings.”
--Carl Sagan
What happens to the prisoners currently held for marijuana possession and/or distribution?
A young boy walks into a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.” The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?” The boy takes the quarters and leaves. “What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!” Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?” The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over!”
