Minnesota going 420? (Spring Grove: 2014, buy, closing)

[Cruz Azul Guy]

I’m not sure I should waste the energy in getting my hopes up that this would actually pass, but there seems to be some momentum and a governor willing to sign it into law. So what are your thoughts with the possibility that recreational marijuana becomes legal in Minnesota beginning in 2021?

Republican committee to hear marijuana legalization bill Monday in Minnesota Senate | Star Tribune

I strongly favor legalization for a multitude of reasons and have my fingers crossed that it happens.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

And the dream is dead....

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/0...marijuana-bill

[wamer27]

Clueless on why, but why is this a Rep/Dem issue in their stances?

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by wamer27

Clueless on why, but why is this a Rep/Dem issue in their stances?

I’d like to think there is a compelling argument to be made for opposing legalization but I’m still waiting to hear it. I’d like to think that it isn’t happening because some politicians are too deep in the pockets of big pharma, private prisons, etc. That would be the cynical view as to why there is still resistance...especially after seeing what a huge success legalization has been for places like Colorado, Washington, Oregon, etc. It’s even legal in Canada now for crying out loud.

[jburress]

Originally Posted by wamer27

Clueless on why, but why is this a Rep/Dem issue in their stances?

It's weird, but for whatever reason a large percentage of the GOP seems completely ignorant and backwards when it comes to cannabis.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by Cruz Azul Guy

I’d like to think there is a compelling argument to be made for opposing legalization but I’m still waiting to hear it.

There are legitimate concerns about the health effects of long term, chronic use. Studies show that it may be addictive and permanently impair cognitive functions. Alcohol might be worse but the feeling is why create another problem?

I am surprised that advocates of recreational marijuana use seem ignorant of the science on the topic. Is the argument that most people will use it responsibly so don’t worry about the potential abusers?

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/menta...ts-say-n924441

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/b...uana-the-brain

[Tyryztoll]

Guess there are still people around who think there are more pressing issues to tackle than smoking pot. I know, crazy, right?

[2x3x29x41]

This issue of marijuana legalization is following a familiar progression.

Is is obvious - obvious - that in the relatively near future (the next decade probably, two at the most) that recreationa marijuana will be legal in all fifty states. Frankly, the track it is following and will follow is and will be similar to that of same-sex marriage. The finger-waggers will lecture everyone about all the terrible consequences that will ensue should society go down this perilous path. Society will go down that path, and that path will prove to have been decidedly non-perilous. Said finger-waggers will then move on to the next thing that they insist will be a cause of widespread calamity, all the while hoping everyone forgets their abysmal track record of predicting doom and gloom.

Marijuana is clearly not harmless. Frankly, the caricature that this is a widely-held position is nonsense. Most advocates of legalization - including many of us who have no interest in using marijuana (the fact that so any people assume that said advocates must be enthusiastic tokers is merely projection, wherein those people betray the fact that they see no point in supporting anything that doesn't immediately benefit themselves in some way) - simply understand that prohibition is costlier both in terms of financial expenditures and social costs than regulated legalization. The states, our laboratories of democracy, that have undertaken legalization (Colorado, California, Washington - the usual boogeymen for the reefer-madness crowd - but also others, such as Alaska) have demonstrated this. Opponents are clinging to their theories and steadfastly ignoring that, while legalization has not been cost-free, it has hardly been a disaster, nor produced effects anywhere close to the appalling $7+ billion spent every year on the idiotic war on drugs, to say nothing of social devastation of those wasting their lives in cells for selling small amounts of pot. What is at stake here is merely expanded access to marijuana, for just like alcohol during Prohibition, it isn't all the unobtainable. In recent years we've seen expanded hours for alcohol sales, both on Sundays as well as pertaining to bar closing times. I suspect there's a fair amount of crossover between those wringing their hands over marijuana and those who cried "Yeah, freedom!" now that they could buy a case of beer on Sunday or stay out drinking at the tavern later. Yes, I supported those expanded hours; I'm actually consistent in my reasoning on the matter of mood-altering substances.

it is also worth noting where legalization has been enacted around the world. Marijuana is legal or decriminalized in much of the Anglo-sphere. It is in much of Europe, particularly western Europe. It is in the more progressive and successful countries of Latin America, such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Where is it illegal? Russia. China. The Middle East. I'm hard-pressed to imagine a policy where I think Moscow and Riyadh - instead of say, Ottawa and Zurich - are to be emulated.

To sum up:
*Marijuana will be legalized
*The sky won't fall
*The Chicken Littles of society will move onto whatever moral panic next catches their fancy (maybe Dungeons & Dragons, naughty lyrics in popular music, or some equally pressing scourge)

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Guess there are still people around who think there are more pressing issues to tackle than smoking pot. I know, crazy, right?

Uh huh. Sure.

The Senate just can't find time to consider whether or not expending law enforcement resources and incarcerating citizens for marijuana use and possession is a good idea, because they're just too busy passing resolutions congratulating Spring Grove on its 9-man class state football championship, proclaiming the beet the official state root vegetable, or honoring the 110th birthday of Governor Elmer Andersen.

That must be it...

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by 2x3x29x41

This issue of marijuana legalization is following a familiar progression.

Is is obvious - obvious - that in the relatively near future (the next decade probably, two at the most) that recreationa marijuana will be legal in all fifty states. Frankly, the track it is following and will follow is and will be similar to that of same-sex marriage. The finger-waggers will lecture everyone about all the terrible consequences that will ensue should society go down this perilous path. Society will go down that path, and that path will prove to have been decidedly non-perilous. Said finger-waggers will then move on to the next thing that they insist will be a cause of widespread calamity, all the while hoping everyone forgets their abysmal track record of predicting doom and gloom.

Marijuana is clearly not harmless. Frankly, the caricature that this is a widely-held position is nonsense. Most advocates of legalization - including many of us who have no interest in using marijuana (the fact that so any people assume that said advocates must be enthusiastic tokers is merely projection, wherein those people betray the fact that they see no point in supporting anything that doesn't immediately benefit themselves in some way) - simply understand that prohibition is costlier both in terms of financial expenditures and social costs than regulated legalization. The states, our laboratories of democracy, that have undertaken legalization (Colorado, California, Washington - the usual boogeymen for the reefer-madness crowd - but also others, such as Alaska) have demonstrated this. Opponents are clinging to their theories and steadfastly ignoring that, while legalization has not been cost-free, it has hardly been a disaster, nor produced effects anywhere close to the appalling $7+ billion spent every year on the idiotic war on drugs, to say nothing of social devastation of those wasting their lives in cells for selling small amounts of pot. What is at stake here is merely expanded access to marijuana, for just like alcohol during Prohibition, it isn't all the unobtainable. In recent years we've seen expanded hours for alcohol sales, both on Sundays as well as pertaining to bar closing times. I suspect there's a fair amount of crossover between those wringing their hands over marijuana and those who cried "Yeah, freedom!" now that they could buy a case of beer on Sunday or stay out drinking at the tavern later. Yes, I supported those expanded hours; I'm actually consistent in my reasoning on the matter of mood-altering substances.

it is also worth noting where legalization has been enacted around the world. Marijuana is legal or decriminalized in much of the Anglo-sphere. It is in much of Europe, particularly western Europe. It is in the more progressive and successful countries of Latin America, such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Where is it illegal? Russia. China. The Middle East. I'm hard-pressed to imagine a policy where I think Moscow and Riyadh - instead of say, Ottawa and Zurich - are to be emulated.

To sum up:
*Marijuana will be legalized
*The sky won't fall
*The Chicken Littles of society will move onto whatever moral panic next catches their fancy (maybe Dungeons & Dragons, naughty lyrics in popular music, or some equally pressing scourge)



Uh huh. Sure.

The Senate just can't find time to consider whether or not expending law enforcement resources and incarcerating citizens for marijuana use and possession is a good idea, because they're just too busy passing resolutions congratulating Spring Grove on its 9-man class state football championship, proclaiming the beet the official state root vegetable, or honoring the 110th birthday of Governor Elmer Andersen.

That must be it...

Congratulations. You destroyed the entire straw man army.

[skeddy]

candidates in 2020 proposing federal legalization in all 50 states?