Congressman Steve Cohen demands the Obama administration reschedule marijuana
124 replies, posted
[quote]WASHINGTON – In a letter to the federal drug czar today, Congressman Steve Cohen asked that the Office of National Drug Control Policy reconsider its approach to criminalizing marijuana possession and use.
Following up on his sponsorship in June of a bill that would allow states to “legalize, regulate, tax and control” marijuana without federal interference, the Memphis Democrat told R. Gil Kerlikowske, the so-called drug czar, that spending trillions of dollars enforcing marijuana laws has been shown to be the “wrong approach.”
Cohen suggested that marijuana should be removed from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act because “there is no evidence that marijuana has the same addictive qualities or damaging consequences as (cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine) and should not be treated as such.”
Cohen said one estimate of law enforcement costs for pursuing marijuana users could be as much as $7.6 billion a year, or nearly $10,000 per arrest.
The letter also calls for the office to end prosecution of people using medical marijuana, noting that 16 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use.[/quote]
source: [URL]http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/sep/12/memphis-rep-steve-cohen-once-again-goes-bat-legal/[/URL]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY0TQ1uOn3k[/media]
THIS GUY
good on you, ongresssman
it seems i forgot the c in congressman
[editline]14th September 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Lankist;32279066]good on you, ongresssman[/QUOTE]
son of a bitch
marijuana kills people its worse than aids
OP was probably too high to spell congressman, heh heh.
I fixed the title but it broke the image
help computer
Legalize it, no reason for it not to be.
wow this thread is a fucking disaster
i really fucked up this time you guys
I don't smoke but I believe marijuana should have never been made illegal as there is no good reason
Rated smarked you're all blazzed
[editline]14th September 2011[/editline]
wait what
Only reason it's illegal is because: money and racism.
I don't smoke but i'm sick of these faggot kids going around acting like they're hot shit,.
'they probably started on milk then went on to beer' ahahahaha this guy owns
They could make so much money if they taxed it and controlled it properly
Instead lives have to be lost to illegally smuggle the drugs in and spend money on trying to stop it
It's very sad, considering how tobacco or even alcohol is worse for you
[QUOTE=Trumple;32279528]They could make so much money if they taxed it and controlled it properly
Instead lives have to be lost to illegally smuggle the drugs in and spend money on trying to stop it
It's very sad, considering how tobacco or even alcohol is worse for you[/QUOTE]
Yea I would never use tobacco because of all the shit it does to you but I'd be all over marijuana.
what's even more fucked is that cocaine is on Schedule II because it used to be used medically.
Alcohol kills more people than marijuana so I don't know why the latter is illegal
oh my god I love this congressman
[QUOTE=MightyMax;32279334]Only reason it's illegal is because: money and racism.
I don't smoke but i'm sick of these faggot kids going around acting like they're hot shit,.[/QUOTE]
Racism what
That seems like a really shitty argument at first glance
[QUOTE=MightyMax;32279334]Only reason it's illegal is because: money and racism.
I don't smoke but i'm sick of these faggot kids going around acting like they're hot shit,.[/QUOTE]
Thats the dumbest opinion I've ever heard, governments are [I]losing[/I] money keeping it criminalized, when they could make money taxing it. And the hell racism to do with it at all beats me.
[QUOTE=kattolil;32279734]Thats the dumbest opinion I've ever heard, governments are [I]losing[/I] money keeping it criminalized, when they could make money taxing it. And the hell racism to do with it at all beats me.[/QUOTE]
government loses money yes, but various companies make money with it being illegal due to superior products that could be made if marijuana WAS legal. and another reason it was made illegal was due to it being used largely in the african-american and latin-american communities, thats where racism comes into it.
[QUOTE=Elecbullet;32279681]Racism what
That seems like a really shitty argument at first glance[/QUOTE]
As I understand it Marijuana was something originally introduced by Mexicans, and used primarily by black people.
I'm sure we all heard that quote about how "Marijuana makes a Negro feel like he's as good as a white man" or something along those lines.
[QUOTE=Elecbullet;32279681]Racism what
That seems like a really shitty argument at first glance[/QUOTE]
One of the original reasons behind the criminalization of marijuana was that it was popular among the deviant blacks.
[QUOTE=Novistador;32279777]As I understand it Marijuana was something originally introduced by Mexicans, and used primarily by black people.
I'm sure we all heard that quote about how "Marijuana makes a Negro feel like he's as good as a white man" or something along those lines.[/QUOTE]
uh no, that's a new one to me
It seems massively simpler to say that people are just uneducated and believe what their parents and their propaganda tell them. Bringing racism into it seems like a stretch.
[editline]13th September 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Lankist;32279781]One of the original reasons behind the criminalization of marijuana was that it was popular among the deviant blacks.[/QUOTE]
oh, well now that [I]you're[/I] saying it it seems a lot more reliable and I cede defeat in advance
[QUOTE=Elecbullet;32279871]uh no, that's a new one to me
It seems massively simpler to say that people are just uneducated and believe what their parents and their propaganda tell them. Bringing racism into it seems like a stretch.
[editline]13th September 2011[/editline]
oh, well now that [I]you're[/I] saying it it seems a lot more reliable and I cede defeat in advance[/QUOTE]
I present 3 quotes from former commisioner of the federal bureau of narcotics Harry J Anslinger
[quote=wikipedia]
Anslinger has been accused to be responsible for racial themes in articles against marijuana in the 1930s.
"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."
"Colored students at the Univ. of Minn. partying with (white) female students, smoking [marijuana] and getting their sympathy with stories of racial persecution. Result: pregnancy"[10][11]
"Two Negros took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days under the influence of hemp. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis."[11][12]
[/quote]
All right. I do now see that there was a racial motivation earlier on in the marijuana era. Now, however, I don't believe the effect is as strong. I interpreted your post as saying "Racism is a factor in preventing legalization TODAY", but if that was not exactly the case, I understand.
Thank you for your information.
I do support legalization, having smoked myself. A little.
[QUOTE=Lankist;32279781]One of the original reasons behind the criminalization of marijuana was that it was popular among the deviant blacks.[/QUOTE]
Depended a bit on where you lived though. In Texas people hated it because it was popular among the Mexican people. To add, the Mexicans were big importers, not just because they liked to smoke it, but because they were big users of hemp. It was kind of a mixed racism, a bit separated though as far as I know because one group was using it to try to lock up black, and the others where using it to keep out Mexicans.
marijuana killed my mother and raped my sister
this congressman is insane
[QUOTE=Pepin;32280098]Depended a bit on where you lived though. In Texas people hated it because it was popular among the Mexican people. To add, the Mexicans were big importers, not just because they liked to smoke it, but because they were big users of hemp.[/QUOTE]
I don't need you telling me the history of my people
[QUOTE=Elecbullet;32280070]All right. I do now see that there was a racial motivation earlier on in the marijuana era. Now, however, I don't believe the effect is as strong. I interpreted your post as saying "Racism is a factor in preventing legalization TODAY", but if that was not exactly the case, I understand.
Thank you for your information.
I do support legalization, having smoked myself. A little.[/QUOTE]
nowadays black youth are more likely to be convicted for possession even though white youth are something like 3 times more likely to be possessing marijuana. i'm gonna try and look up where i found those stats
[editline]14th September 2011[/editline]
ok i'm having a hard time finding them all i remember was it was in one of TH89's big threads or big posts about racism
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