Former president Jimmy Carter OK with legalizing marijuana

[|Numbers|]

While paging through the news for something interesting, one article caught my attention.  Jimmy Carter ok with legalizing marijuana.  I thought to myself, if marijuana is legalized what else might be legalized based upon another countries experience with decriminalizing a drug.  I found Portugal decriminalized ALL previously illegal substances and they had some interesting findings from that (see below note).  Carter mentions Portugal as an example also.

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/marijuana-legalization-president-jimmy-carter-ok-with-legalizing-marijuana-84921.html

 

 

By KEVIN CIRILLI | 12/11/12 2:29 PM EST  Updated: 12/12/12 2:08 PM EST

 

Former president Jimmy Carter OK with legalizing marijuana

 

Former President Jimmy Carter said he is in favor of legalizing marijuana during a public panel that CNN aired Tuesday.

 

CNN anchor Suzanne Malveaux asked Carter whether he supported marijuana’s legalization during a forum hosted by The Captain Planet Foundation on Friday in Georgia.

 

“I’m in favor of it. I think it’s OK,” Carter told Malveaux. “I don’t think it’s going to happen in Georgia yet, but I think we can watch and see what happens in the state of Washington for instance around Seattle and let the American government and let the American people see does it cause a serious problem or not.”

 

Washington and Colorado voted to legalize recreational marijuana last month, becoming the first two states to do so, putting state laws at odds with federal laws. U.S. officials remain critical of the laws passing.

 

Carter said that decriminalizing drugs doesn’t necessarily mean more drug users.

 

“All drugs were decriminalized in Portugal a few years ago and the use of drugs has gone down dramatically and nobody has been put in prison,” Carter said.

 

He added: “So I think a few places around the world is good to experiment with and also just a few states in America are good to take the initiative and try something out. That’s the way our country has developed over the last 200 years. It’s about a few states being kind of experiment states. So on that basis I am in favor of it.”

 

Carter’s remarks come following last Thursday’s premiere of “Breaking the Taboo,” filmmaker Sam Branson’s documentary that says the global drug war failed and in which the former president criticized former first lady Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.

 

Carter noted that when he was president, he wanted to decriminalize marijuana.

 

“When I was president, in 1979 I made my definitive speech about drugs and I called for the decriminalization of marijuana. This was in 1979 — not for the legalization but the decriminalization to keep people from being put in prison just because they were smoking a marijuana cigarette,” Carter said.

 

Carter wrote in a June 2011 New York Times op-ed that he supported the Global Commission on Drug Policy’s recommendations for government to experiment with legal regulation of drugs.

 

When asked by POLITICO whether this was the first time Carter supported legalizing marijuana — moving beyond decriminalization — his office responded a statement from him: “I have always favored decriminalization and think we should observe what happens in Washington before going further.”

 

http://mankatofreepress.com/letters/x986692386/My-View-New-approach-needed-on-illegal-drugs

 

Moreover, legalizing marijuana would reduce the blatant racial discrimination in drug law enforcement, described in the Chicago Reader. It found that 89 percent of people found guilty of low-level marijuana offenses in Chicago between 2009 and 2010 were black, 9 percent were Hispanic and only 2 percent were white — even though more whites smoke marijuana.

 

Nationwide, blacks make up 12.1 percent of the population but they comprise 34 percent of all drug violation arrestees, leaving many with felony drug convictions that cripple their employment prospects for life.

 

As for “hard” drugs, in 2001 Portugal decriminalized the purchase, possession and use of all previously illegal substances, including heroin, opium and cocaine. Instead, health workers provide medical advice, methadone, and clean needles. The addicts are treated as patients rather than criminals. Since 2001, addiction has decreased by 50 percent and drug-related HIV cases have decreased by 75 percent, according to the AP.

 

[|Numbers|]

After reading a little more on the subject, there is a definite difference between Legalize, Decriminalize, and Depenalize.

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/portugal-drug-policy-decriminalization-works-2012-7

 

First, some clarification.

Portugal's move to decriminalize does not mean people can carry around, use, and sell drugs free from police interference. That would be legalization. Rather, all drugs are "decriminalized," meaning drug possession, distribution, and use is still illegal.

 

While distribution and trafficking is still a criminal offense, possession and use is moved out of criminal courts and into a special court where each offender's unique  situation is judged by legal experts, psychologists, and social workers. Treatment and further action is decided in these courts, where addicts and drug use is treated as a public health service rather than referring it to the justice system (like the U.S.), reports Fox News.

 

The resulting effect: a drastic reduction in addicts, with Portuguese officials and reports highlighting that this number, at 100,000 before the new policy was enacted, has been halved in the following ten years. Portugal's drug usage rates are now among the lowest of EU member states, according to the same report.

 

One more outcome: a lot less sick people. Drug related diseases including STDs and overdoses have been reduced even more than usage rates, which experts believe is the result of the government offering treatment with no threat of legal ramifications to addicts.

 

Note:  The following link is a PDF file from the CATO institute;

 

www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/greenwald_whitepaper.pdf

 

 

“Decriminalisation” comprises removal of a conduct or activity from the sphere of criminal law. Prohibition remains the rule, but sanctions for use (and its preparatory acts) no longer fall within the framework of the criminal law. [By contrast],“depenalization” means relation of the penal sanction provided for by law. In the case of drugs, and cannabis in particular, depenalization generally signifies the elimination of cus-todial penalties.

 

In sum, “decriminalization” means either that only noncriminal sanctions (such as fines or treatment requirements) are imposed or that no penal sanctions can be. In a “depenalized” framework, drug usage remains a criminal offense, but imprisonment is no longer imposed for possession or usage even as other criminal sanctions (e.g., fines, police record, probation) remain available. “Legalization”— which no EU state has yet adopted—means that there are no prohibitions of any kind under the law on drug manufacturing, sales, possession, or usage.

[oldschooler]

It's ridiculous that it isn't legal right now. Free up the jails. Give people jobs growing  and harvesting it.

And get revenue from taxing it. It really makes too much sense.

[|Numbers|]

It's ridiculous that it isn't legal right now. Free up the jails. Give people jobs growing  and harvesting it.

And get revenue from taxing it. It really makes too much sense.

 

I'm not totally sure of how to interpret Carter but it makes sense that he meant decriminalize marijuana but not legalize.  He uses Portugal as an example which decriminalized substances but did not legalize them.  However, like Carter said, let's see how Washington and Colorado do with this before going further.  After review of numerous documents I can wholeheartedly support the decriminalization but until further studies are done, I can not say whether I am for legalizing or not.

[fluhartz]

It's ridiculous that it isn't legal right now. Free up the jails. Give people jobs growing  and harvesting it.

And get revenue from taxing it. It really makes too much sense.

 

 

I totally agree with this.... all of those are good things...

​Also in a weird kind of way it would be funny.. All of the people who have been screaming for legalizing it would get screwed. i don't know how much weed cost now, but when our government gets their greedy paws in there... you know that price is going to skyrocket...

[Khatmandude]

I totally agree with this.... all of those are good things...

​Also in a weird kind of way it would be funny.. All of the people who have been screaming for legalizing it would get screwed. i don't know how much weed cost now, but when our government gets their greedy paws in there... you know that price is going to skyrocket...

 

Not really.  When something is on the "black market" the prices are usually higher.  Weed is a black market item currently....if it's legalized, the price would drop I would imagine.  Just as the prices are better at dispensaries in states where it's been legalized than if you bought from your dealer.   

[fluhartz]

Not really.  When something is on the "black market" the prices are usually higher.  Weed is a black market item currently....if it's legalized, the price would drop I would imagine.  Just as the prices are better at dispensaries in states where it's been legalized than if you bought from your dealer.   

 

 

I just assumed it would go up due to taxes.. They are always adding more and more to booze and cigarettes...

[Khatmandude]

I just assumed it would go up due to taxes.. They are always adding more and more to booze and cigarettes...

 

I dont blame you....I too would think the gov't would try tax it like crazy....which they will but it will still be cheaper than from your dealer. 

[eva4ben-gal]

 
 
I just assumed it would go up due to taxes.. They are always adding more and more to booze and cigarettes...

Yeah but just think how much those would be marked up if they weren't readily available. The reason weed is so expensive is because of all the "middle men" separating smoker from grower. All those guys have to sell the weed for more than they bought it for or there's no point in doing it, so then you end up with people paying $30-60 for an eighth of an ounce depending on quality and availability. If you do like Washington did, not only do you cut the number of middle men from possibly a half dozen to one, but you make it so a smoker can choose to grow his own as well. So the cost of recreational and habitual smoking goes way down.

[Tigris]

I don't think it would cost anything outrageous. It's just like growing your own tomatoes. They may not be as big or as red as some in the stores, but they taste relatively the same and sometimes better. If it was legal, there'd be so many household plants throughout, it'd be ridiculous.

[|Numbers|]

Something Tigris just said made me think of where these Cannabis seeds would come from.  The word tomato made me think of a class I had in sustainability.  The Tomato was the first commercially available genetically modified food.  Monsanto and its genetically engineered products will provide the seeds eventually for the majority of all seed crops.  Buy from Monsanto and a person is likely not going to be able to grow anything cheaply.  To add to the problem of costs with seed add in the damage to the environment and yes the prices will most certainly increase.  For reference find out about the farmers in India who were required to grow Monsanto seed.

 

All the garden crops I have are started from seed.  I save them from the previous plantings the year before.  Fortunately, what I have planted does not have the Monsanto name attached.  If it did and I sold anything from my garden I would be subject to litigation from Monsanto.

 

I would argue that any tomato is certainly more tasty than a tomato in the produce aisle at a big box supermarket.  There are so many nasty things done to a tomato on its way to the shelves that a person would probably gag thinking about them.  Ripe tomatoes will not ship for very long and they are picked before ripening and anything picked before it is ripe is very seldom going to taste as good. 

 

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato

 

The poor taste and lack of sugar in modern garden and commercial tomato varieties resulted from breeding of tomatoes which ripen uniformly red. This change occurred after discovery of a variety in the mid 20th century which ripened uniformly which was then widely cross-bred to produce attractive red fruit without the typical green ring surrounding the stem on uncross-bred varieties. Prior to general introduction of this trait tomatoes were able to produce more sugar during the process of ripening and were sweeter and more flavorful

In order to facilitate transportation and storage, tomatoes are often picked unripe (and thus colored green) and ripened in storage with ethylene.[31] Unripe tomatoes are firm. As they ripen they soften until reaching the ripe state where they are red or orange in color and slightly soft to the touch.[citation needed] Ethylene is a hydrocarbon gas produced by many fruits that acts as the molecular cue to begin the ripening process. Tomatoes ripened in this way tend to keep longer, but have poorer flavor and a mealier, starchier texture than tomatoes ripened on the plant.[citation needed] They may be recognized by their color, which is more pink or orange than the other ripe tomatoes' deep red, depending on variety.[citation needed]

A machine-harvestable variety of tomato (the "square tomato") was developed in the 1950s by University of California, Davis's Gordie C. Hanna, which, in combination with the development of a suitable harvester, revolutionized the tomato-growing industry.[citation needed] In 1994, Calgene introduced a genetically modified tomato called the 'FlavrSavr', which could be vine ripened without compromising shelf life. However, the product was not commercially successful, and was sold only until 1997.[citation needed]

Recently, stores have begun selling "tomatoes on the vine", which are determinate varieties that are ripened or harvested with the fruits still connected to a piece of vine. These tend to have more flavor than artificially ripened tomatoes[citation needed] (at a price premium).

 

There is no doubt in my mind that Marijuana prices will escalate.  Everything Monsanto touches does.  Brought to you by the producers of such fine products as DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine somatotropin.

 

For reference type in your search engine the following words:  "Monsanto"AND"cannabis"     It appears Monsanto already has a hand in providing the cannabis seed.

[Khatmandude]

Something Tigris just said made me think of where these Cannabis seeds would come from.  The word tomato made me think of a class I had in sustainability.  The Tomato was the first commercially available genetically modified food.  Monsanto and its genetically engineered products will provide the seeds eventually for the majority of all seed crops.  Buy from Monsanto and a person is likely not going to be able to grow anything cheaply.  To add to the problem of costs with seed add in the damage to the environment and yes the prices will most certainly increase.  For reference find out about the farmers in India who were required to grow Monsanto seed.

 

All the garden crops I have are started from seed.  I save them from the previous plantings the year before.  Fortunately, what I have planted does not have the Monsanto name attached.  If it did and I sold anything from my garden I would be subject to litigation from Monsanto.

 

I would argue that any tomato is certainly more tasty than a tomato in the produce aisle at a big box supermarket.  There are so many nasty things done to a tomato on its way to the shelves that a person would probably gag thinking about them.  Ripe tomatoes will not ship for very long and they are picked before ripening and anything picked before it is ripe is very seldom going to taste as good. 

 

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato

 

 

There is no doubt in my mind that Marijuana prices will escalate.  Everything Monsanto touches does.  Brought to you by the producers of such fine products as DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine somatotropin.

 

For reference type in your search engine the following words:  "Monsanto"AND"cannabis"     It appears Monsanto already has a hand in providing the cannabis seed.

 

 

Monsanto is the devil.  I literally hate that company.  Criminals.  And they're in bed with the FDA so it wouldn't surprise me if they were the sole approved supplier/vendor for marijuana seeds if legalized.  

 

Drug companies have tried to recreate the healing benefits of THC with synthetic THC but what they don't realize is that they will never be able to replicate what nature does so easily.  

[Tigris]

I think the documentary Food Inc talks about that place. It's been so long... can't remember.

That can't stop you from growing the fattest plant in your own home. Not that I would ever, I'm just saying.

Maybe you guys weren't even talking about that... my bad