What are these people doing?
Why are they throwing themselves at the feet of a grotesque, morbidly obese behemoth that gobbles up everything within its reach and begging it, "Please, take me!"
These people are the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that envisions "a nation where marijuana is legally regulated."
The fat slob is the state of California, still looking for the next orgy of food to gorge itself on even though it's already bloated and bankrupt.
The "Take me" refers to a takeout order of new fatty delights the gargantuan hulk has never crammed down its insatiable gullet before.
Marijuana: will a legalized light-up be better than homegrown
grass? (AP File Photo)
In short, MPP is offering California politicians a bribe: if they legalize marijuana they can tax it as a new revenue source to help close the state's $26 billion deficit that their own fiscal gluttony created.
They've even produced a "California Tax and Regulate Ad" to inform the state's moneygrubbers that they've been overlooking an untapped fount of income ripe for the plucking.
From the video: "But the governor and legislature are ignoring millions of Californians who want to pay taxes. We're marijuana consumers."
The MPP is so proud of its video they've been sending out emails to everyone they've ever developed contact with begging them to donate money so they can "spread this ad across the airwaves."
If you're stoned while you're reading this you might think the whole thing is just a big Cheech and Chong put-on. But there's no evidence of any wry smirks or crossed fingers or eyewinks in the video that would be a tip-off.
The MPP effort to legalize pot is the type of campaign that every self-respecting libertarian can enthusiastically ignore.
This is a bid for marijuana legalization. Libertarians believe in decriminalization. The difference is monumental.
Decriminalization means removing all laws that make a victimless crime a crime and then making government leave people the hell alone, as they should have been doing all along.
Legalization, on the other hand, is the legitimization of the minions of some governmental entity who have collectively waved pen over paper and magnanimously declared that they won't throw you in jail for doing something they have a vested interest in you doing.
In short, decriminalization means government hands off; legalization means government hands on.
Here's what a successful MPP legalization effort has to look forward to.
Pot will become legal to plant, grow, cultivate, distribute, sell and consume.
Every step of the process will be manipulated to benefit politicians and their campaign contributors. Growers who kiss political butt will be licensed to grow, others will not be. Powerful lobbyists will influence legislation to severely restrict who gets the power to distribute and sell. This will drive up the product, which can only be bought where the state marijuana monopoly says it can be sold.
And what do you think will happen to quality and potency once the bureaucrats get their controlling hands on your hash?
The high legal price will result in a black (what libertarians call free) market for weed (which is exactly what we have now), which will keep the state's drug warriors giddy with power and tax-subsidized weaponry as they continue to kick in doors and beat in heads of those participating in the officially illegal marijuana trade.
The MPP effort to legalize pot is the type of campaign that every self-respecting libertarian can enthusiastically ignore.
Then, depending on how the political winds blow, mountains of sin taxes will be dogpiled on top of endless regulations until pot puffers are driven out of their homes and into designated ingestion areas and demonized like tobacco consumers are today.
Beyond that, the MPP is making another tragic mistake. They are turning themselves into enablers of gross irresponsibility.
California doesn't need more taxes to cover its deficit. It needs an addiction intervention by every responsible citizen of the state to make the profligate politicians stop spending money they never had.
Offering another tax to California is like offering a Twinkie to Jabba the Hut.
Libertarians are neither for nor against smoking pot. Libertarians are for freedom. Legalizing marijuana does not result in freedom, it just results in different governmental controls than the controls we have right now.
For now, with pot laws loosening up all over the country, if you're a smoker, a joker, a midnight toker, you're better off buying your bong fodder from your sister's husband's brother's former roomate's girlfriend than trusting anything the state might do for you.
And MPP shouldn't get a penny of support from libertarians.
Comments
first, (disclaimer)I don't do any intoxicants.
Now, I do agree with you in theory (only in theory). Marijuana should be decriminalized. No one has ever overdosed on it. No one beats their spouse after coming home from smoking weed all night long. No one is on the corner selling their body for it. Cops and courts are spending all this money and effort to catch people being happy. This money and effort would be better spent on taking hard violent criminals off the street.
Is marijuana ever going to be decriminalized? No. What's in it for the detractors? Nothing. Legalizing and taxing is the only thing that the detractors will listen to. Anything less doesn't interest them. In the meantime, thousands of lives are being destroyed by the courts for getting "happy".
Think of legalization as a "bribe" to save these people from a destroyed life. You don't give some and they don't give some and everybody loses.
Anything less than Legalization is a ridiculous waste of time and prolongs the inevitable. Decriminalization is "don't ask don't tell" for short and that's just not a good way of running a Government. You'll get the extra increase in Marijuana availability without the benefits of regulation and taxation.
I disagree with your assertion that Libertarian principles don't call for full legalization of Cannabis. Taxing the hell out of it definitely isn't a Libertarian principle, but if it includes legalization, it's a step in the right direction. If anybody ever actually wants to see it legalized, what MPP is doing is the only real way to go. Remember, it's a weed. If it ever gets too regulated, you can just grow it in your backyard if it's legal. MPP's work will eventuality give us that right. You can help in getting cannabis legalized, our you can step out of the way.
Waaaaah! Waaaaah! Waaaah! De' mean ol' librals is pickin' on me again! Waaaaah! Waaaah! Waaaah!
"Libertarians believe in decriminalization."
WRONG. I'm a libertarian and I call for the government to tax and regulate all drugs, just like we already do with alcohol.
I am a dues paying Libertarian. I believe that law enforcement should be removed from between you and your doctor. I believe that cannabis should be legalized...completely!
Government is best restricted to inhibiting force and fraud. So long as nobody is being lied to or assaulted, let everybody smoke anything they want so long as others are not compelled to see or smell them or pay for the outcomes. Smokers whether of tobacco or cannabis should be free to do what they like out of sight in private on their own dime. The problem with the embittered cigarette users at present is that they have been indulged too long and have come to imagine that their personal habit is a right. A mere personal habit is not a "right" capable of being granted or taken away. If smokers of tobacco or pot learn to do it where others don't have to see or smell them, no assault is implied and they can be left alone. They do not have a "right" to compel others to be part of their behavior by sharing its odor or witnessing it without their consent.
"Legalizing marijuana does not result in freedom" That's the most moronic statement I've read in a week.
As someone who has been incarcerated many times for marijuana; I can assure you, marijuana prohibition is a prohibition on freedom.
Legalization is the only way to control and regulate marijuana to the fullest. This doesn't mean that you won't be able to grow your own under legalization. Just like alcohol and tobacco, both legal, you can grow your own if you choose.
Both of which are difficult for under-aged peoples to obtain. Both drugs have good educational programs set up too.
I am a Conservative and agree with taxation of cannabis plants used for medicinal, therapeutic, and recreational purposes. Hemp should not have a tax levied on it for industrial purposes.
Interesting... Seems quite a few people here have no clue what "libertarian" really means.
But that's ok. I finally outgrew trying to understand "libertarians."
I am an individual sovereign and don't need libertarians or anyone else telling me how to live my life. I am personally responsible for all my actions and choices - the first of which is not to initiate force against anyone, ever.
And those who think they have some "right" not to be offended or to control the sight or smell of anything they don't personally like... good luck with that. Hope you are not ugly, and someday discover that your neighbors believe they have a "right" never to see your ugly face...
Those (both sexes) deemed too "ugly" by popular vote could be required (at gunpoint, of course) to wear a tent so nobody else would be offended at ugliness.
Get over yourselves.
I completely disagree, but understand your point. Essentially what you are arguing for is a legal and non-taxed product that in no way is regulated or controlled by anyone or anything. People can grow it, or buy it, non-taxed. But you realize very few of our everyday products are actually like that now.
Yes, I think we all want less taxes and fewer restrictions, but that's not really the way things work. The MPP goals and the Libertarian goals are slightly different and we must all pick and choose our battles wisely. MPP chooses to play the current system of government control, taxation, regulation, because, that is the system which they are provided. They compare their product to alcohol or tobacco sales, which are both regulated, controlled and taxed. We Libertarians wish to completely change the system from the inside out.
We don't want government control of much of anything, we want fewer taxes on everything and we want less regulation. Both groups have pretty bold and noble goals, however, together there is little chance of winning over the masses. So MPP (NORML, ASA, SAFER or any of the other various legalization organizations) has chosen to work within the confines of the system they have been provided and I commend the work that they do.
In the last 15 years we have seen decriminalization in (I think) 14 different States and 13 States also have medical marijuana laws. More States are being added to those totals each year. Furthermore, public acceptance of Marijuana and the realization that the drug war is a failure is now so widespread, that its hard to find someone who actually still supports the cause.
This turn-around of opinion is due in part to the work that the Marijuana legalization organizations undertake. It is these groups that sponsor and pay for the advertisements that you hear on the radio or see on billboards. These groups even pay for lobbyists in Washington to try and encourage debate among stubborn politicians.
So, while I understand your point of view, I completely disagree with you. And given the possible scenarios for the legalization movement, I prefer the system of taxation and regulation as opposed to the criminalization and prohibition methodology that we use now.
I love it when people think they can predict the future. Why is there only ONE possible senario for legalization? You also failed to mention the problem that stems from the distinct differences in the "Medical" Marijuana movement and the movement to legalize cannabis altogether. How can we hold this plant to the standards that we hold all other pharmacutical drugs? The answer is we should not, simply because cannabis is a natural herb with many different chemical compounds that have many different medicinal qualities, not just one specific drug to cure or treat a disease. It would make sense to create an alcohol/tobacco modeled policy for recreational cannabis grown here in the United States while conducting further research so that someday we can fully understand and utilize all the medicinal qualities in cannabis. This would mean that no doctor could prescribe cannabis itself but rather cannabis based prescription drugs.
Jay Man said "I'm a libertarian and I call for the government to tax and regulate all drugs, just like we already do with alcohol."
And I'm a vegetarian who likes to kill and eat animals.
You forget that decriminalizing the personal use of cannabis does not free everyone from persecution. You so often forget the people who keep this U.S. Cannabis industry and the debate of its legalization running on all cylinders, the growers. If it were not for these people, no one would have a reason to argue or make commercials about changing the "marijuana" laws in the U.S. You see Garry, the feds can't contain the current black market for cannabis, and they would have an ever harder time keeping people from growing their own to use/sell if it were legalized. It wouldn't make sense to legalize cannabis and then create new laws forcing people to buy the cannabis that is specifically taxed and regulated by the government. But sadly, I see no other alternative. Eventually, EVERYONE who grows will sell with a gov. license, pay gov. taxes, and face scrutiny from the FDA. This just might render "home growing" obsolete, and solve that minor discrepancy. Why grow when it is so easy to buy?
I have no political affiliation and I believe that a legalized marijuana market will be able to withstand an underground market of home growers.
Even the same strains of cannabis sativa/indica can be grown by completely different methods/technique.
Users will want variety and a legalized market would provide a diverse selection of specialty high-grade marijuana. THC content is one factor but also the appearance, taste, smell influence a buyer.
I can make beer and wine at my home but I'm no professional grower so I buy it at the grocery store.
There should only be a limited number of licensed grow centers to avoid flooding the market.
Mexican weed should be illegal but if we catch it the US government is in charge of inspecting it and then auctioning it to licensed retailers.
There should be restrictions on public use(driving) and distribution to children.
Air traffic controllers CAN NOT use it 6 hours before work.
Kindergarten teachers MUST use it within 2 hours before work
I meant to say "I'm no professional brew master" instead of 'grower'. Hops and cannabis are closely related though..
I lost respect for MPP when I attended the LP convention last year.
In a pragmatic move, Rob Kampia backed Bob Barr for President in which Barr was Kampia's greatest opponent when he served in Congress and their backing of marijuan medicalization will lead to even more government controls.
When I get a mailer from MPP it goes in the trash.
This isn't a conversation that *adults* in a(ostensibly, but we know better) *cough* "Free
Country" should even be HAVING.
Fed-up says:
This isn't a conversation that *adults* in a(ostensibly, but we know better) *cough* "Free
Country" should even be HAVING.
it's a conversation that ONLY adults should be having.
Didn't realize libertarians (the laissez-faire guys???) made such an acute distinction between 'legalization' and 'decriminalization'. No matter how you slice it, it's still better than a potent medicine being "ILLEGAL" and unavailable for suffering patients.
I'll take either option. Anything would be better than what they do now.....arrest, prison, lives ruined. Don't blame MPP if the country is way off base here. They're doing about the best they can (mediocre) with the crummy situation we have.
Could you do better, Mr. Reed ??
Legalizing pot faces serious political obstacles. Personally, I would rather legalize prostitution and gambling and eliminate the state income tax - it works in Nevada, but I digress. Legalizing pot will be hard. Taxation on the other hand, is easy.
For those who endorse legalizing pot so as to tax it to help ease California’s budget problems, that’s a cop out. Take responsibility for yourself and voluntarily pay the tax you owe. It’s that simple.
Californian's that smoke dope illegally, simply declare your illegal pot purchases on your annual tax return. Multiply the dollar amount you contributed to the wrong side of the War on Drugs by your local tax rate then add the result to your tax liability. Having done your part to ease California's budget crisis, you will be able to sleep better at night without adding costs to the state for managing all the negative effects of legalizing yet another social poison.
Like Mike Renzulli, I, too, lost my respect for MPP last year when I was a delegate to the LP Convention. Rob Kampia sucked up to Barr in a most embarrassing and hypocritical way. I, too, throw their literature in the trash.
Jay Man, you are not a libertarian if you believe government has the right to regulate ANY substance. (Government DOES have the Constitutional right to tax a substance, however.)
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