Good luck with that. The autocrats are in power, and power will be pried from their cold, dead fingers by an enraged citizenry or not at all. Enjoy your voluntary checkpoints, citizens.

It's not an accident that the two political parties stand for growth of government.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN! At least this what everyone seems to scream every time we talk about legalization UGH!

And in the meantime.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/colorado-marijuana-sold-out-rumors_n_4549626.html

By Emily Thomas

An overwhelmingly high demand for recreational marijuana in Colorado sparked rumors last week that pot shops were starting to sell out of weed -- a problem that could prompt some people to return to the black market.

However, now that the dust has settled since the dash to buy pot during its first days of commercial legalization in the state, those rumors appear to be the result of an opening-week rush.

“We do have a smaller crowd today compared to last week, and we’re not selling out," Pete Vasquez, general manager at the Denver dispensary Medicine Man, told The Huffington Post over the phone. "From customers I’ve heard that no one else is selling out either, it’s just something going around on the news."

Other dispensaries validated Vasquez's assessment.

“We are not sold out and have tons of inventory,” Ryan Garbey, a bartender at Denver Kush Club, told HuffPost.

Since commercial marijuana became legal in Colorado on Jan. 1., at least 37 stores in the state were licensed to sell recreational pot to anyone 21 or older, causing thousands of eager patrons to flock to the shops, The Denver Post reports.

"I know businesses are trying to take it slow. Some are limiting the amount that they sell per transaction," Mason Tvert, the communications director at Marijuana Policy Project, told HuffPost over the phone. "Ultimately, I haven’t heard from anyone who is actually going to sell out. I think that the rush is going to die down very quickly if it hasn’t already. So I wouldn’t be too worried about that."

However, last week's massive turnout had many store owners worried they’d have to close shop this week for lack of supplies.

Toni Fox, owner of the dispensary 3D Cannabis Center, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that she served 450 customers and turned away 60 on opening day, Jan. 1. Before the new year, she had been serving just 25 clients a day in medical marijuana sales.

“We are going to run out,” Fox told the Gazette on Friday. “It’s insane. This weekend will be just as crazy. If there is a mad rush, we’ll be out by Monday.”.....

(snip)

Sometimes threads like this turn out be surprisingly quiet on the comment front. In my case, on this particular thread, it's simply because I have nothing to add. Friedersdorf said it all.

Let's not forget all the dads who are caged because mom left with the kids, and then dad lost his job, or can't earn what the court "imputes" is his earning capacity. While caged, dad's debt and penalties just keep growing, of course.

Our societal love for draconian punishment (we are the sole Western nation that still puts people to death) has a distinct medieval flavor.

Aren't people "caged" for illegal possession of opiods too? Nothing unusual here. I would dearly some some of my own opiods and am jealous of pot's coming legalization.

I think Colo can expect a boom in pot usage for years. I recall during the 50s and 60s how boozy the culture was. It have really boomed after Prohibition ended and went on for decades. Generations too young for speakeasies drank like fish. You couldn't get away from it really.

When a guy asked you out it was, wanna go have a drink somewhere? LOL I thought it was tacky in 1969 but actually would love to go have a drink somewhere right now.

"It Is Immoral to Cage Humans for Smoking Marijuana"

Okay. Now, defend this for any other substance.

No harm? By the admission of pot smokers, drug use in the USA funds a criminal element breathtaking in its influence. In the same breathe, these people often defend their drug use, and even their total inaction w/r/t changing existing law.

That is no more moral, no more decent than jailing some kid for having a joint.

I can show you a crack dealer in Aiken, SC, three hundred FEET from the Sheriff's office. What do you think funds that? Do you think legalizing pot will change that?

I can show you a crack dealer in Aiken, SC, three hundred FEET from the Sheriff's office. What do you think funds that? Do you think legalizing pot will change that? -- Radwaste at January 8, 2014 6:11 PM

It probably won't. But at the same time, how many St. Valentine's Day massacres have occurred since December 5, 1933 over alcohol?

I could support some sort of funding requirement (but not a tax run through governmental agencies) that would put a $5 per pack of joints, or per ounce, whatever that goes to a rehab fund. Basically the users would be able to walk into rehab at a nominal cost and get help.

A more recent example on the stupidity of prohibition requirements was the abstinence only education requirements. What was the direction of teenage pregnancy and STD rates?

The insistence on prohibition as the answer doesn't work. It never has worked and it never will.

"I think that the rush is going to die down very quickly"

Leading to harder drugs for a quicker, stronger high, I suppose.

"But at the same time, how many St. Valentine's Day massacres have occurred since December 5, 1933 over alcohol?"

Thousands. We don't care about thousands of direct alcohol poisoning deaths each year, because drinking! Woohoo!

Raddy, I never stole from anyone because I was out of weed. I never used anything harder because I smoked weed. I tried other stuff out of curiosity, but always came back to pot. Acid was fun for a while, but then that shit got old. Cocaine was never fun for me because I hated the crash. Heroin made me sick to my stomach, as did other opiates, and I hate them. But that's just me. I NEVER stole from anyone to feed my "habit" because I never needed to, nor would I have done so anyway. Put a drink, a line of coke, and a joint in front of me and tell me I can only have one. I'm taking the joint every time. No hangover, no crash, I can have a toke now and save some for later.

I'd love to be able to do that legally, without fear of the law. I work, I take personal responsibility for myself and my kids, I pay all my bills and I take care of my business. Why can't I enjoy a toke now and then when I'm on my own time and want to relax? Who am I hurting?

Short answer: NO ONE. Not even myself. Even my DOCTOR says so.

Thousands. We don't care about thousands of direct alcohol poisoning deaths each year, because drinking! Woohoo!

Posted by: Radwaste at January 9, 2014 4:13 AM
______________________________

So in your mind, there's no difference between suicide-by-stupidity and murder? Sheesh.

Not to mention death by tobacco....but I will say I don't understand why you have to be 21 to buy pot in Colorado but only 18 to buy tobacco. Especially given that 60% of all tobacco smokers started smoking AFTER turning 18 - that is, 34% start between 18 and 21 and 26% start after age 21. OK, so the 40% who started before 18 weren't doing it legally anyway, but I still suspect it would make a difference if we banned kids under 21 from buying it.

I'll also say that, given the statistics, it makes no sense to allow 16-year-olds to drive. The laws were written about a century ago, when neither cars nor roads allowed for high speeds. If cars and roads allowed for speeds of 1,000 m.p.h., would we allow teens to get their licenses? I would hope not. Besides, it may be safe to say that teens were a lot more mature a century ago - and they almost certainly weren't wasting valuable gas money on just driving around for fun.

Thousands. We don't care about thousands of direct alcohol poisoning deaths each year, because drinking! Woohoo! -- Radwaste at January 9, 2014 4:13 AM

You are listing off two separate arguments and trying to conflate them.

The mortality rates from alcohol poisoning have probably been pretty consistent throughout history since distillation was perfected.

The same with opiates from the time that opium was discovered in ancient China up to the perfection of concentrating things like heroin.

And if you don't think the South American tribes didn't chew on coca leaves before they learned how to make cocaine powder you are a not thinking in detail.

And those probably caused deaths. But there probably wasn't any mortality changes from use.

The second half of the argument is "drug use in the USA funds a criminal element breathtaking in its influence".

I was more responding to that. Again if stuff isn't illegal then that means some sort of corporate watch can be done. And you won't have Thugsta One shooting at Rapster Two in an alley because they are arguing in what block they can sell shit. If John Consumer can walk into a pharmacy and buy it with a credit card why deal with Thugsta or Rapster?