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Vote for Weed! | Photo by Anti/LAist
Since many are hopeful that California will have weed legalized for everyone in California, we thought we would share with you what happened in 2006. From the trends you can see below, fewer and fewer people see marijuana as a "bad, evil, boogie-man that will unravel society as we know it."
California Marijuana Initiatives 2006:
- Santa Barbara, CA. Measure P Win by 65% Make marijuana possession the lowest law enforcement priority.
- Santa Cruz, CA. Measure K Win by 64% Make marijuana possession the lowest priority for laws enforcement.
- Santa Monica, CA. Measurer Y Win by 65% Make marijuana possession the lowest priority for law enforcement.
- Albany, CA. Measure D Win by 53% to allow a medical marijuana dispensary in the City of Albany.
What's the next step in making something the lowest criminal priority? Legalization.
After the jump more results from other states' 2006 Marijuana Initiatives.
Nevada Marijuana Initiatives 2006:
- State of Nevada Question 7 Loss by 56% to permit the manufacture, distribution and sale of marijuana to adults 21 and older.
Colorado Marijuana Initiatives 2006:
- State of Colorado Amendment 44 Loss by 60% Allow possession of up to one ounce of marijuana.
Montana Marijuana Initiatives 2006:
- Missoula County Initiative 2 Win by 54% Make marijuana the lowest priority for law enforcement.
Arkansas Marijuana Initiatives 2006:
- Eureka Springs Initiative Win by 63% Make the possession of one ounce or less the lowest priority for laws enforcement.
The results from the other states is not quite as exciting. But in time, marijuana will be legalized!
Source: Socal Norml
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Wrong. The next step would be decriminalizing it. Then legalization. In any case legalization would make it a higher priority to shut down the remnants of the current illegal distribution system in order to allow the state run system to run accordingly. And since the feds won't be participating in any sting operations...
just curious, Anti...
do you consider yourself a marijuana addict?
No such thing as a marijuana addict, dipshit. Apparently you and Bill Murray's ex-wife are the only ones still in the dark regarding this fact.
Marijuana is NOT physically addictive.
True, it's not, but who even cares?
If nobody is getting hurt, it's not anyones business.
I'm only addicted to chocolate, pizza, and nicotine.
Nicotine sucks, you should quit that. Nobody's addicted to marijuana, though.
I only smoke if im getting high.
Just trying to be efficient.
Legalize it and I will advertise it.
That is a rad pic anti!@#
Big up!
whoa there ben bang... first of all, addiction is not limited to physical dependency... addiction can be emotional or mental, for example, as it has been shown to be with marijuana... it is possible that you have awesome genes and are not prone to addiction, but many people are and do suffer from drug dependency... and while marijuana may not be as physically addictive as other drugs, there have been findings to suggest some sort of physical component (withdrawl symptoms, neurochemical changes, 150,000 people/year seeking treatment because they cannot control their use...)... so let's not make hostile blanket statements... i was merely interested in what Anti thought, as I have noticed his interest in writing on the topic... and he was kind enough to answer (sorta), so thanks
anyone interested in forming a NORML chapter for UCLA or is the Los Angeles chapter already an umbrella org? does anyone know? hit me up here and check this out: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3434
"150,000 people/year seeking treatment because they cannot control their use"
THAT is a bogus number! whats your source?
just curious, packer...
do you consider yourself a sports addict?
how about before tossing my number aside as bogus, you take 3 seconds to confirm that you are posting a credible response... hmm, i wonder how one would go about doing such a thing... perhaps a google search... maybe try searching "marijuana 150,000 treatament"... oh look at that... 4 different sources using the 150,000 number on page one alone
anyway, i am done with this... smoke away, i really could care less... i just wish that some of you would be more compassionate to those who are negatively affected by their use (and stop implying things like nobody has ever been addicted, nobody has ever needed treatment, marijuana has never hurt anybody, etc)
and since you are curious, yes, I do consider myself a sports addict... in fact, I've been on a Brett Favre high for the last 24 hours
Packer Fan,
i back you dude. Any chemical has the potential for abuse. I think that people can be addicted to anything, like i said in my previous comment, one of my addictions is pizza.
But i don't think anyone is lacking compassion for those who are negatively affected by their use. People merely doubted your stats, and disagreed with your opinion about marijuana addiction.
to expand on my thoughts id like to say, when someone is a sports addict, or a gambling addict, or a porno addict... it's not the same as the kind of addiction on has for nicotine, or heroine.
THERE ARE NO WITHDRAWL SYMPTOMS FROM MARIJUANA.
If one is addicted to marijuana, it may stem from the fact that they have addictive personalities and are at high risk to being addicted to SOMEthing. But it's them, not the weed. get me?
the human brain is a tough nut to crack, i don't know.
in the end, i don't consider myself a marijuana addict, but i do consider myself a cigarette addict. Without cigarettes i become very irritable, i get head aches, and my appetite gets all whacky. Without weed i am fine.
but seriously, thanks man, i appreciate your comments.
"marijuana 150,000 treatament" packer
you can't even spell. i command you to turn off espn NOW. put down the football and step away from the beer!
i did not need to "google it", i knew it was a bogus number because I'm smarter than you!
those numbers are based on people being FORCED into treatment.
it goes a little something like this... one day little packer was caught with 2 bags of pot....next thing you know he's in court and the judge says... "little packer do you want to go to jail with the rapist and killers or would you like to go to a nice new state of the art DRUG treatment center?"
little packer thinks about it for a sec and says... well golly gee judge i want the nice cozy treatment facility.
Now you can change that number to 150,001.
sorry for the interruption packer now back to your regularly scheduled program, cspan. oppps i mean espn.
google... NORTH AMERICAN UNION
Packer-Fan: Haul out your dictionary and look up addiction. Physical dependency is mentioned in the first sentence. This "mental" addiction and whatnot is pure fiction...and has been since the idea was floated in the media.
I'm rooting for this to pass in California, if only so that I can dream about a day when it sweep the country and hit NJ. I realize I'll be an old woman by then, but something tells me it will still be fun to get high.
i think marijuana should be in the same class as cigarettes be 18 to buy it and all of the same laws for smoking should be the same for pot. just my opinion
1. aliastaken - definitely with you on the NJ legalization endeavor, i have a feeling you wont be as old as you think before you can smoke pot legally :)
2. medicalmarijuanaministry - im with you on the "forced treatment theory," many otherwise law abiding citizens are detained for possession of weed, and normally do admit themselves into those facilities to avoid incarceration. what sane individual wouldn't?
3. Anti - i agree that any chemical has potential for abuse. it never stopped alcohol or tobbacco from running ads to get people to "drink/Smoke responsibly." that being said, warning labels and other advertisements about the potential for abuse that comes with ANY substance should be implemented. too much of a good thing could be a bad thing, of course.
4. paul - i agree with your ideas about legalization. multi billion dollar drug cartels generate over %75 of their revenue from weed sales alone. that being said, we could compare this arguement to the current arguement of job outsourcing in america. alot of Americans are concerned with companies who pay people overseas to do jobs us americans can do just fine. why would we let these foreign (and local) cartels have the luxury of %75 of multi billion dollars? that should be our money!
finally, packer fan - i admire your efforts as the devils advocate in this arguement, however, there is overwhelming evidence, both in this article, in this discussion, and in sources elsewhere that point to the unavoidable truth that pot smoking Americans are discriminated against, and are denied rights that alcoholics and nicotine addicts enjoy without question.
you said, "smoke away, i really could care less" - that is exactly the response people like me are trying to hear from nonsmokers. if you really dont care tha we are going to smoke weed than just let us, we could sure use your vote.
Frankly, I have always believed that the Health & Safety Code is oxymoronic rhetoric...this is what I mean...how can you have an illegal controlled substance? What a farce! Law enforcement, Public Health is not controlling the substance, they have always been controlling the people who are allegedly using the substance.
Without legalization there can never be control of substances that have been listed as "controlled" even though they are illegal due to lobbying efforts in the 20th Century by corporations who had profit motives.
While opioid analgesics are some of the most effective, albeit physically addictive, drugs on the market with few real side effects, the drug companies demonize them in pursuit of profits, patents and more profits for artificially "non-addictive" opioid-like substances many of which have had dangerous side effects.
Most humans are addicted to something...let's face it, its the nature of the beast. I would much rather have doctors or nurses trained to administer or distribute substances than whatever is the newest mafia corrupting our country with ill gotten gains, most of which are sent south of border which there is a serious war over the profits our dollars bring them on the black market.
Part of the reason why California is in such bad shape is that the Black Market used to be 25% of the economy and that economy has been scared out of the country due to increased penalties for dealers. An illegal alien is going to be given a free trip home where they can spend all the profit they earned.
I am all for sanity and part of getting there on the road is legalizing marijuana and from there we need to seriously consider bringing an end to this stupid criminalization of decent people who have been marginalized due to the political climate of the past 90 years and the greed of certain unions and other groups and individuals who live off the criminalization of other organic substances.
Unless everyone benefits, then no one really benefits.