Bloomberg Backs Plan to Limit Arrests for Marijuana Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
ALBANY — The New York Police Department, the mayor and the city’s top prosecutors on Monday endorsed a proposal to decriminalize the open possession of small amounts of marijuana, giving an unexpected lift to an effort by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to cut down on the number of people arrested as a result of police stops.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose Police Department made about 50,000 arrests last year for low-level marijuana possession, said the governor’s proposal “strikes the right balance” in part because it would still allow the police to arrest people who smoke marijuana in public............................>>>>........................>>>>.................http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06.....icy.html?_r=1&hp
Ban sugar intake..........increase pot consumption....and all in one freakin' week!!!
Will GOV ALMIGHTY please make up our minds!!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The outrage! People's pockets must be filled with Xanax and Paxil, not weed. We are a nation of pill poppers, not smokers, snorters and shooters. I need people getting high off drugs produced by the company in my 401K portfolio - not the South American cocoa farmer.
The outrage! People's pockets must be filled with Xanax and Paxil, not weed. We are a nation of pill poppers, not smokers, snorters and shooters. I need people getting high off drugs produced by the company in my 401K portfolio - not the South American cocoa farmer.
The Top Five Special Interest Groups Lobbying To Keep Marijuana Illegal
Last year, over 850,000 people in America were arrested for marijuana-related crimes. Despite public opinion, the medical community, and human rights experts all moving in favor of relaxing marijuana prohibition laws, little has changed in terms of policy.
There have been many great books and articles detailing the history of the drug war. Part of America’s fixation with keeping the leafy green plant illegal is rooted in cultural and political clashes from the past.
However, we at Republic Report think it’s worth showing that there are entrenched interest groups that are spending large sums of money to keep our broken drug laws on the books:
1.) Police Unions: Police departments across the country have become dependent on federal drug war grants to finance their budget. In March, we published a story revealing that a police union lobbyist in California coordinated the effort to defeat Prop 19, a ballot measure in 2010 to legalize marijuana, while helping his police department clients collect tens of millions in federal marijuana-eradication grants. And it’s not just in California. Federal lobbying disclosures show that other police union lobbyists have pushed for stiffer penalties for marijuana-related crimes nationwide.
2.) Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes, including marijuana. As Republic Report’s Matt Stoller noted last year, Corrections Corporation of America, one of the largest for-profit prison companies, revealed in a regulatory filing that continuing the drug war is part in parcel to their business strategy. Prison companies have spent millions bankrolling pro-drug war politicians and have used secretive front groups, like the American Legislative Exchange Council, to pass harsh sentencing requirements for drug crimes.
3.) Alcohol and Beer Companies: Fearing competition for the dollars Americans spend on leisure, alcohol and tobacco interests have lobbied to keep marijuana out of reach. For instance, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors contributed campaign contributions to a committee set up to prevent marijuana from being legalized and taxed.
4.) Pharmaceutical Corporations: Like the sin industries listed above, pharmaceutical interests would like to keep marijuana illegal so American don’t have the option of cheap medical alternatives to their products. Howard Wooldridge, a retired police officer who now lobbies the government to relax marijuana prohibition laws, told Republic Report that next to police unions, the “second biggest opponent on Capitol Hill is big PhRMA” because marijuana can replace “everything from Advil to Vicodin and other expensive pills.”
5.) Prison Guard Unions: Prison guard unions have a vested interest in keeping people behind bars just like for-profit prison companies. In 2008, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent a whopping $1 million to defeat a measure that would have “reduced sentences and parole times for nonviolent drug offenders while emphasizing drug treatment over prison.”
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
CAn't buy it or sell it...hmmmmm. LET'S ALL GROW IT!
"Under Mr. Cuomo’s proposal, the state would downgrade the possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana in public view from a misdemeanor to a violation, with a maximum fine of $100 for first-time drug offenders. It is already a violation to possess that amount without putting it into public view. "
The ONLY reason they want to do this is because of race. They said it themselves, that because of 'stop and frisk' the OVERWHEMING majority of arrests are hispanics and blacks.
"Approval ratings go up and down for various reasons... An example is the high post 911 support for GWB even though he could be said to be responsible for the event." --- Box A Rox '9/11 Truther'
Melania is a bimbo... she is there to look at, not to listen to. --- Box A Rox and his 'War on Women'
The ONLY reason they want to do this is because of race. They said it themselves, that because of 'stop and frisk' the OVERWHEMING majority of arrests are hispanics and blacks.
Not to mention, the waste of resources harassing and incarcerating pot smokers.
you need to become very ill and move to a less backward state where medicinal weed is allowed. Vermont is a medical state, I think you have to be very seriously ill to qualify there though....................lets stop wasting money on prohibition......over $3 trillion wasted on these stupid laws......................btw on a somewhat related note, I witnessed a DEA and Sheriffs raid on an apartment in town last week..................must've been 15 agents and cops, no RPD though..................as near as I can tell, no arrests, no drugs confiscated and apparently nothing in the news about it..........yep, a real good use of our tax money...............................you can add that to the $3 trillion
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