Legalize Marijuana: Smoke ’em if you got ’em in Colorado, Washington

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Finally there’s some relief for those of us who enjoy the occasional taste of the “weed,” at least if you live in Washington or Colorado.  This is even better news for those who have cancer or other diseases that are helped by smoking a little pot.  Here’s the story from CNN:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Voters in Washington and Colorado passed ballot initiatives Tuesday to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the biggest victory ever for the legalization movement.

“The significance of these events cannot be understated,” said NORML, a pro-legalization organization, in a news release. “Tonight, for the first time in history, two states have legalized and regulated the adult use and sale of cannabis.”

But in many ways, it’s just the beginning of the battle. Marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, which overrules states’ rights.

“The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will,” said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, in a statement. “This is a complicated process, but we intend to follow through. That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug ,so don’t break out the Cheetos or goldfish too quickly.”

The voter approval of legal weed in Colorado and Washington could lead to a Supreme Court battle with the federal government, according to Jeffrey Miron, senior lecturer of economics at Harvard University and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, where he has conducted economic studies on nationwide drug legalization.

“[The feds] will do whatever they can to interfere with marijuana legalization in any state,” Miron said on Tuesday, before the initiatives passed.

Analysts had projected the Washington voters would approve their legalization ballot, because it proposes a heavy tax for marijuana that made the proposal attractive to budget hawks. The Washington initiative calls for a 25% tax rate imposed on the product three times: when the grower sells it to the processor, when the processor sells it to the retailer, and when the retailer sells it to the customer.

The Colorado approval was more of a surprise, since the polls were split ahead of the vote.

Voters shot down a third legalization referendum, in Oregon, which was expected. Analysts had projected that it wouldn’t go through and criticized various aspects of the initiative, especially the fact that it would have handed most of the regulating power in the marijuana industry to the growers rather than independent overseers.

There were half a dozen marijuana referendums in total, with three of them proposing legalization for recreational purposes, and the others dealing with medical marijuana. Massachusetts voters approved a referendum legalizing medical marijuana, while Arkansas voters shot down a similar proposal. Montana voters approved a referendum to place restrictions on its existing medical marijuana laws.

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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10 years ago

[…] With the recent recreational regulations passed in Colorado, it’s only a matter of time before the market expands. And with the rapid haze of marijuana dispensaries descending on American cities, it isn’t always clear exactly how the industry works and what the regulations are. […]

Jess
11 years ago

Well I know I sparked a fatty up last night, to celebrate this my own self. Ooops, should I be saying this out loud with an ex police officer owner type 🙂 Makes no difference to those of us that partake in nature’s bounty whether or not it is legal, because we always know who’s holding. It would be way better if it was but I am not going to stress about it, till I have to.

Jess
Reply to  Professor Mike
11 years ago

Have you thought about using a vaporizer. I came across some good ones while I was doing some research for a um friend of mine 🙂

11 years ago

Well guys, I wouldn’t be spleefin’ up just yet. But it shows that people are getting over the propaganda from decades past. Now, if we can just release some of the 2 million inmates who are held on possession charges. (Sorry, my own personal axe to grind.)

11 years ago

Like the old country song goes, “Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette. Smoke until you smoke yourself to death.” Hey, if we can drink ourselves to death, why not ‘marijuana’ ourselves to death. At least we’ll go out happppppppppppyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

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