Anonymous wrote:
Speeding isn't dangerous either.

Anonymous wrote:Virtually no one is in prison solely because of pot possession unless they're a drug dealer. I don't know why this myth refuses to die.

Why should anyone be incarcerated or prosecuted for large scale possession of a harmless plant? If I have 10 lbs of marijuana in my home, I should face zero consequences for it.

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Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

Actually, I'm a crime analyst. And very liberal. I've posted here before. Cops aren't going after marijuana because it's marijuana. Cops go after the violence associated with marijuana. Just like they went after the violence associated with crack rather than powder cocaine, which had nowhere near the amount of associated street violence.

Unfortunately, the nation does not experience safety equally. The victims of community violence are overwhelmingly young Black men. Different jurisdictions have had varying experience with the illicit cannabis trade after legalization. California in particular has seen illicit sales and the associated violence grow. Here in Montgomery County, historically, all drug-related homicides are related to marijuana. That homicide rate has increased since we decriminalized marijuana. When you reduce the transactional cost for law breakers and increase the transactional cost of law enforcement, you get more violent crime. And that's what has happened here.

If the drug-related murder rate falls in Montgomery County, I will come back and eat my words. (And gladly, honestly) But I don't think it will. I think shootings and homicides will only increase. And while that likely won't impact UMC white cannabis fans, it absolutely will hurt young Black men.

Your claims of murders increasing since Mont Co decriminalized marijuana are extremely dubious. DC hasn't had an increase in "murders" since marijuana was legalized/decriminalized. Why would Mont Co?

You are simply a bald faced liar. Marijuana is going to be legalized in MD today and I'm going to love watching you crying your eyes in out in response. The sky isn't falling.

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Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

Actually, I'm a crime analyst. And very liberal. I've posted here before. Cops aren't going after marijuana because it's marijuana. Cops go after the violence associated with marijuana. Just like they went after the violence associated with crack rather than powder cocaine, which had nowhere near the amount of associated street violence.

Unfortunately, the nation does not experience safety equally. The victims of community violence are overwhelmingly young Black men. Different jurisdictions have had varying experience with the illicit cannabis trade after legalization. California in particular has seen illicit sales and the associated violence grow. Here in Montgomery County, historically, all drug-related homicides are related to marijuana. That homicide rate has increased since we decriminalized marijuana. When you reduce the transactional cost for law breakers and increase the transactional cost of law enforcement, you get more violent crime. And that's what has happened here.

If the drug-related murder rate falls in Montgomery County, I will come back and eat my words. (And gladly, honestly) But I don't think it will. I think shootings and homicides will only increase. And while that likely won't impact UMC white cannabis fans, it absolutely will hurt young Black men.

Data analyst, great! Please explain poverty level as a contributing factor and how you distinguish causation from correlation when analyzing crack vs powder cocaine. Same question for "marijuana-related violence".

What if the problem isn't the marijuana, it's the poverty? Criminalizing marijuana won't solve the problems, just push them around.

Poverty itself? No. Concentrated poverty? Yes. And those areas are historically Black and brown. And overwhelmingly, most lower income people are law-abiding residents. It's a very few who cause the real harm, but that harm impacts the whole community. So since it's a small area geographically, and involves a small number of offenders, the homicide rate is not significantly influenced by fluctuations in poverty rates.

The bottom line is there are really two different Americas. People who live in concentrated poverty and everyone else. Looking at a recent County crime report, with 16 homicides through September, 13 of which were committed in equity focus areas, and just doing a back of the envelope break-down, the homicide rate is almost zero (0.4 per 100,000) in most of the county. But it's almost 5 per 100,000 people in the equity focus areas. That means people in lower income communities of color are experiencing a homicide rate almost 13 times higher than the rest of the County. That's just homicides. There are non fatal shootings, again all concentrated in the equity focus areas of the County.

Now, how to eliminate, or at least reduce, areas of concentrated poverty? That is way above my pay grade. But failure to fix systemic issues before adding more stress to challenged neighborhoods is exactly why I voted no.

Virtually no one is in prison solely because of pot possession unless they're a drug dealer. I don't know why this myth refuses to die.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

The solution isn't to decriminalize the activity. Again, speeding tickets are enforced unequally. Are you suggesting we should legalize speeding? How well do you think that would work? Would society receive a net benefit from removing speed limits?

Marijuana isn't inherently dangerous like speeding. Forcing it underground like alcohol during prohibition has made it dangerous.

Speeding isn't dangerous either.

Me.
Just voted no.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

Actually, I'm a crime analyst. And very liberal. I've posted here before. Cops aren't going after marijuana because it's marijuana. Cops go after the violence associated with marijuana. Just like they went after the violence associated with crack rather than powder cocaine, which had nowhere near the amount of associated street violence.

Unfortunately, the nation does not experience safety equally. The victims of community violence are overwhelmingly young Black men. Different jurisdictions have had varying experience with the illicit cannabis trade after legalization. California in particular has seen illicit sales and the associated violence grow. Here in Montgomery County, historically, all drug-related homicides are related to marijuana. That homicide rate has increased since we decriminalized marijuana. When you reduce the transactional cost for law breakers and increase the transactional cost of law enforcement, you get more violent crime. And that's what has happened here.

If the drug-related murder rate falls in Montgomery County, I will come back and eat my words. (And gladly, honestly) But I don't think it will. I think shootings and homicides will only increase. And while that likely won't impact UMC white cannabis fans, it absolutely will hurt young Black men.

It is also important not to understate the negative impact that marijuana use has on Black communities. No UMC white person would want to raise a family around constant drug and alcohol use. It is not good for kids. It is terrible for communities.

That's why we make alcohol illegal and take kids away from white families where people drink alcohol or wait ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

Actually, I'm a crime analyst. And very liberal. I've posted here before. Cops aren't going after marijuana because it's marijuana. Cops go after the violence associated with marijuana. Just like they went after the violence associated with crack rather than powder cocaine, which had nowhere near the amount of associated street violence.

Unfortunately, the nation does not experience safety equally. The victims of community violence are overwhelmingly young Black men. Different jurisdictions have had varying experience with the illicit cannabis trade after legalization. California in particular has seen illicit sales and the associated violence grow. Here in Montgomery County, historically, all drug-related homicides are related to marijuana. That homicide rate has increased since we decriminalized marijuana. When you reduce the transactional cost for law breakers and increase the transactional cost of law enforcement, you get more violent crime. And that's what has happened here.

If the drug-related murder rate falls in Montgomery County, I will come back and eat my words. (And gladly, honestly) But I don't think it will. I think shootings and homicides will only increase. And while that likely won't impact UMC white cannabis fans, it absolutely will hurt young Black men.

It is also important not to understate the negative impact that marijuana use has on Black communities. No UMC white person would want to raise a family around constant drug and alcohol use. It is not good for kids. It is terrible for communities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

Actually, I'm a crime analyst. And very liberal. I've posted here before. Cops aren't going after marijuana because it's marijuana. Cops go after the violence associated with marijuana. Just like they went after the violence associated with crack rather than powder cocaine, which had nowhere near the amount of associated street violence.

Unfortunately, the nation does not experience safety equally. The victims of community violence are overwhelmingly young Black men. Different jurisdictions have had varying experience with the illicit cannabis trade after legalization. California in particular has seen illicit sales and the associated violence grow. Here in Montgomery County, historically, all drug-related homicides are related to marijuana. That homicide rate has increased since we decriminalized marijuana. When you reduce the transactional cost for law breakers and increase the transactional cost of law enforcement, you get more violent crime. And that's what has happened here.

If the drug-related murder rate falls in Montgomery County, I will come back and eat my words. (And gladly, honestly) But I don't think it will. I think shootings and homicides will only increase. And while that likely won't impact UMC white cannabis fans, it absolutely will hurt young Black men.

Data analyst, great! Please explain poverty level as a contributing factor and how you distinguish causation from correlation when analyzing crack vs powder cocaine. Same question for "marijuana-related violence".

What if the problem isn't the marijuana, it's the poverty? Criminalizing marijuana won't solve the problems, just push them around.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

The solution isn't to decriminalize the activity. Again, speeding tickets are enforced unequally. Are you suggesting we should legalize speeding? How well do you think that would work? Would society receive a net benefit from removing speed limits?

Marijuana isn't inherently dangerous like speeding. Forcing it underground like alcohol during prohibition has made it dangerous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

The solution isn't to decriminalize the activity. Again, speeding tickets are enforced unequally. Are you suggesting we should legalize speeding? How well do you think that would work? Would society receive a net benefit from removing speed limits?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I voted against it.


Pot makes you dumb. A little pot makes you a little dumb, and a lot of pot makes you really dumb.

It’s not in our interest as a society to be even further dumbed down.

Alcohol does the same thing, but it’s a heck of a lot more addictive.

DP - alcohol doesn’t increase risk for psychosis. It doesn’t produce smoke that’s harmful for those around the person smoking weed.

Are you really arguing alcohol is less harmful than weed?

No, I’m not. I’m arguing that weed isn’t harmless, as a shocking amount of educated people seem to think.

As to the psychosis issue: I should have been more specific. Cannabis use in adolescence specifically increases risk for psychosis and schizophrenia. Alcohol might increase that risk slightly, but not nearly as much as cannabis.

But again, the real problem is that people think cannabis is NBD. It IS a big deal. It’s NOT okay to smoke weed during pregnancy, or give it to your teenagers, or smoke it regularly around your kids.

NO ONE is suggesting weed for minors or pregnant women. Obviously. 🙄

i
Juul wasn’t supposed to be sold to minors either and yet…

Have you ever been to a dispensary? Minors are not buying at a legal shop. Your DL is recorded every time you want to walk in the door. And it’s much more expensive to buy legally than on the street.

Kids have always smoked weed - being illegal doesn’t mean anything. There is a typical demographic that seems to use flavored vape pens and it’s not educated middle or upper class adults (the group legal weed seems to attract).

Being illegal doesn't mean people won't do it, you're right, but being legal means it is easier for people to do it, which sucks.

I'm tired of the reefer madness and smelling pot everywhere. Can I just drive on the road without being exposed to mind altering clouds of smoke because some douche bag is hot boxing while driving with a DWI?

I am in SF where it's been legal. I don't partake however. I've tried it several times and it doesn't relax me, I get a dry mouth and just don't enjoy it. But the complaining about the second hand smoke is BS. Who smokes anymore?? Most people use gummies or vape pens... There is no impact on neighbors and no one is getting a contact high that way.

And no one mentioning the taxes generated or the heavy regulation. It's just such a non problem- focus on opioids, gun violence, poverty, and violence. This is a dumb cause to put energy behind.

Here in Maryland, drug-related gun violence is fueled by marijuana.

p

Only because of heavy regulation and high taxes. The government should distribute weed for free to people who can't afford it.

Like kids? The kids who robbed and slit their dealer’s throat in Bethesda were 16, 17, and 18.

What is the value of a life? Of course the government should be giving weed to children for free to prevent these crimes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute

Actually, I'm a crime analyst. And very liberal. I've posted here before. Cops aren't going after marijuana because it's marijuana. Cops go after the violence associated with marijuana. Just like they went after the violence associated with crack rather than powder cocaine, which had nowhere near the amount of associated street violence.

Unfortunately, the nation does not experience safety equally. The victims of community violence are overwhelmingly young Black men. Different jurisdictions have had varying experience with the illicit cannabis trade after legalization. California in particular has seen illicit sales and the associated violence grow. Here in Montgomery County, historically, all drug-related homicides are related to marijuana. That homicide rate has increased since we decriminalized marijuana. When you reduce the transactional cost for law breakers and increase the transactional cost of law enforcement, you get more violent crime. And that's what has happened here.

If the drug-related murder rate falls in Montgomery County, I will come back and eat my words. (And gladly, honestly) But I don't think it will. I think shootings and homicides will only increase. And while that likely won't impact UMC white cannabis fans, it absolutely will hurt young Black men.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:almost no one goes to jail solely because of pot possession unless they have so much that they're a drug dealer. i dont know why this myth refuses to die.

"almost no one" isn't very comforting to the people who do go to jail.

Don’t break the law and you won’t. Did you grow up in a world devoid of consequences?

It's so cute* how you ignore racist policing patterns and how "just follow the law" is applied unevenly. Like, every one of your January 6 buddies would have been shot.


*not cute