Miami Herald Article & Poll for Legalization

The Miami Herald has a good article about Florida's draconian drug laws. They have a live poll on the same page. So far it's 94% for legalization of drugs. Florida is about to exceed federal guidelines by making it a mandatory 25yrs. prison sentence for 25 or more plants. This will only encourage other states to follow suit. Please, read the article & vote. Here's the link.

Crist wants to maintain drug penalties - 03/15/2008 - MiamiHerald.com

i voted....

legalize and tax that SHIT!

and let our peeps outta jail...

this may sound crazy, but a conservative state like North Carolina can sentence you to no more that 12 months for having under ten pounds for cultivation or sale!!

i thought that was pretty leniant almost could call it a businees expense / hazard

luckily i only smoke for personal use, but if i was hard up for money then who knows.


PS: tax evasion is where they can get you tho. NC actually have a law that you must pay tax on your weed or they can prosecute you for tax evasion. unfortunatly last time i took my weed up to them to put a tax stamp on it they locked me up


im just waiting for the old hippies' conservative counterparts to start going sea-nile then all will be well on the weed front no doubt,

they say the more the middle class does a drug the less the penalty is for it.

Charlie Crist quotes from the article...

''That's the old way; throw a drug addict in jail. But now we know treatment works, it's better and it's cheaper,'' Sen. Crist said. ``If you're a violent criminal, you belong in a cell. If you're a drug addict, you belong in a rehab program.''

Asked if marijuana-possession should be decriminalized, Sen. Crist said: ``The man or woman abusing drugs need to be in a program to overcome their addiction. And the time has come to look at the prison system and make sure this is appropriate.''

While the state senator said he hasn't used illegal drugs, the governor acknowledged he had. Asked if he ever used marijuana, Crist said ``Yeah.''

Gov. Crist said he only used marijuana recreationally when he was younger and long before public life and that he never used cocaine.
Did he inhale? ''I did,'' he said.


~ PLEASE TAKE THE TIME AND VOTE ~

Why can't they wake up and realize that cannabis is not a narcotic drug? Cui bono? Who benefits from prohibition? Police and thieves, that whole mass of DEA employees,correction officers, and corporations supplying prisons. I have heard people state that legalation would be bad because they would lose their income. Too fukken bad! Any grower who's any good would just go legit, most would be glad of the chance.Also a lot of people would be paying a lot of taxes,which should,if fairly distributed would ease the burden of the entire population. Didn't they learn anything in the 20's? Prohibition does not work.

'I've said many times, people make mistakes. And what I support about the law is the deterrent effect.."

what deterrent effect? Marijuana use has not gone up or down ever. if people wanna use it, they will and there is no deterrent effect... if anything there is reverse effect since "bad boys" wanna do it because its illegal. if the law goes into place, weed prices spike in fl since its now "even harder" to cultivate for mass production and the very underworld they are trying to fight against will profit even more....

They found in the Netherlands that cannabis use decreased after toleration. It seems that tolerence is a successful policy, doesn't it ??

Zogby Poll: Nearly Half Of Americans Believe Pot Should Be Regulated Like Alcohol -- Majorities In The East And West Coasts Back Legalization

Washington, DC: Nearly one out of two Americans support amending federal law "to let states legally regulate and tax marijuana the way they do liquor and gambling," according to a national poll of 1,004 likely voters by Zogby International and commissioned by the NORML Foundation.

Forty-six percent of respondents -- including a majority of those polled on the east (53 percent) and west (55 percent) coasts -- say they support allowing states to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. Forty-nine percent of respondents opposed taxing and regulating cannabis, and five percent were undecided.

"Public support for replacing the illicit marijuana market with a legally regulated, controlled market similar to alcohol -- complete with age restrictions and quality controls -- continues to grow," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. "NORML's challenge is to convert this growing public support into a tangible public policy that no longer criminalizes those adults who use marijuana responsibly."

Respondents' support for marijuana law reform was strongly influenced by age and political affiliation. Nearly two-thirds of 18-29 year-olds (65 percent) and half of 50-64 year-olds think federal law should be amended to allow states the option to regulate marijuana, while majorities of 30-49 year-olds (58 percent) and seniors 65 and older (52 percent) oppose such a change.

Among those respondents who identified themselves as Democrats, 59 percent back taxing and regulating marijuana compared to only 33 percent of Republicans. Forty-four percent of Independents and 85 percent of Libertarians say they supported the law change.

Respondents' opinions were also influenced by religious affiliation. Nearly 70 percent of respondents who identified themselves as Jewish, and nearly 60 percent of respondents who said they were non-religious believe that states should regulate cannabis, while only 48 percent of Catholics and 38 percent of Protestants support such a policy.

A previous Zogby poll of 1,024 likely voters found that 61 percent of respondents opposed arresting and jailing non-violent marijuana consumers.

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informationliberation - Zogby Poll: Nearly Half Of Americans Believe Pot Should Be Regulated Like Alcohol -- Majorities In The East And West Coasts Back Legalization