Legislation to legalize marijuana in Pennsylvania has entered the State Senate.
Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, this week proposed to introduce legislation to lift the “modern-day Prohibition” on consumption of marijuana, according to an opinion piece by Leach in the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.
Leach’s bill would basically legalize marijuana consumption for adults aged 21 and older, without a reason for smoking it, according to the article.
Leach states in the article that the state government has wasted money on investigating and prosecuting citizens for use of drug, when said citizens have “hurt no one, damaged no property, breached no peace.”
“Their only ‘crime’ was smoking a plant which made them feel giddy,” Leach said.
To those who say marijuana is a gateway drug, Leach said research proves untrue.
“Well over 90 percent of those who use marijuana never go on to use harder drugs,” Leach said. “The percentage of people who do use hard drugs and had previously used marijuana is no higher than the percentage who had previously tried only beer.”
Cops really don't care about marijuana and know that alcohol causes majority of the issues that they deal with. How can we honestly feel that it is okay for people to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and swallow opium-based pills, BUT to smoke a plant that humanity has been using for THOUSANDS of years should remain illegal??
When governments prohibit drugs they effectively and knowingly hand a monopoly on their sale to dangerous criminals and terrorists. Without a legal framework in which to operate, these black-market entities can always be expected to settle their disputes violently while terrorizing many peaceful and innocent citizens in the process. Were the users of alcohol to blame for the St Valentines massacre in 1929? Of course not! It is just as naive to assume that one can compel all the users of Marijuana, or Cocaine, to simply quit, as it is to assume that all the users of Alcohol should have stopped drinking after the introduction of alcohol prohibition in 1919. The situation everywhere will continue to deteriorate while prohibitionists will continue to attempt to blame its negative ramifications on the users –rather than on the fundamental paradox of handing an entire sector of the economy to organized crime.
Just goes to show you that the laws in this country are optional if you have enough money to buy your way out.
Marijuana is the top crop in 12 states and ranks among the top three in 30 states. It does not take a banker to see that this is a great business. Law enforcement needs to re-direct its focus on crime...to those that are REAL crimes. I was in Federal Prison for 5 years for a marijuana offense. No, it was not for simple possession. I was arrested aboard a Lockheed PV2 in Marianna, Florida...charged and convicted for conspiracy to import and distribute 12,000 pounds of marijuana. As my years in prison rolled by, what I did see were armed bank robbers, coming and going...while I still sat there for marijuana. Most of the bank robbers only spent 17 to 24 months. But, I and my fellow 'drug offenders,'...we stayed for YEARS. I wrote about the escapades that led to my incarceration. I admit, I had a great time. No one was injured, no one was killed, firearms were not involved...there were no victims. We were Americans...doing what Americans do best...living free. Truly, it is time for this lunacy to end...it never should have begun. The book: Shoulda Robbed a Bank I would be honored by your review.
1. Jury Nullification. Refuse to convict anyone with a cannabis charge 2. Refuse any drug test that checks for THC residue or Marijuana use. Move on to the next job and stop getting in line like NAZI Germany to have your urine checked. Complain loudly and often. 3. Plant ONE BILLION Marijuana seeds on every square inch of public land in Washington DC and any State public land that keeps Marijuana illegal 4. Boycott all Alcohol and Tobacco and Pharmaceutical products
These laws are granting power to black market dealers and making our children the prime target market for them. When is the last time you saw a state store clerk trying to drum up business with high school kids to sell them alcohol? Not to mention the MILLIONS of dollars we are wasting on law enforcement, incarceration, and putting police officers in the line of fire for these Stupid Laws! Write your senators and Mr. Tom "Reefer Madness" Corbett, who apparently gets his war on drugs policies from movies made in the 1950s.