The New York Times calls on US to legalize marijuana

[Jhhnn]

No problem, but what % of tomatoes consumed in the USA are home grown? I would say less then 1% but I do not know this for sure. In cities where all the people are, the % of home grown veggies is much less then in the countryside where the people are not. The number of people growing a garden in Amsterdam is less then 1% for sure, virtually everyone that I share my homegrown heirloom tomatoes with can't believe how good they are, they all said they have never ever had a tomato so good, but they do not want to grow them, maybe just a few did take tomato starts from my wife and grow them. Most just wanted more tomatoes or sweet corn that I grew, from us. No one has ever grown any of the sweet corn seeds I imported from the USA except for one employee that wanted them at home, tomatoes and corn.
People all left the farms, mostly they do not want to go back, they like shopping at the store, so convenient year round.
I like to feel the soil in my fingers, I like gardening, my wife likes to freeze all the extra tomatoes and make tomato sauce for pasta. It lasts a year easy in a deep freeze ziplock frozen away.
In the countryside in Santa Cruz I had a small 2 acre farm that produced 47 kinds of fruit and veggies for home use. At one point we hardly bought fresh food, I don't do that anymore but if I had the land somewhere I could, I would. The weather there was a lot better then here. Thats why I use a greenhouse here for corn and tomatoes.
-SamS

It's interesting that Europeans have never really seen corn as people food but rather as food for domestic animals. My family's church sponsored a Belgian foreign exchange student long ago who was quite surprised that we ate the stuff. He ended up rather pleased with it, as well.

Cultural food preferences are pretty remarkable, with some eagerly devouring what others find revolting. Filipino balut is a prime example of that.

 

[Jhhnn]

if the numbers from polls etc can be believed, & the politicians reaction to them is followed through on, they will have to re or de-classify pot in order to be legitimate. in all fairness, it should not be classified as ANY schedule of drug. poppies are not classified as a narcotic, and folks make opium out of them. morning glories are not listed, but you can hallucinate if you eat the blue heavenly seeds. when weed was first placed as a sch. 1 drug, it was done with the caveat that it would be re-scheduled soon in order to get the support of the AMA, who was going to challenge it in court for fear of losing what they saw as an important tool in their toolbox.

I think that the Obama Admin will strike first in that regard. Whether one agrees with it or not, they see the drug war as racist in implementation, ending it in its current form as an issue of racial justice. Declassifying MJ plays right into their desired scenario. They just need for the Colorado experience to play out a little further. They knew what they were doing & the likely outcome when they backed CO & WA in our legalization efforts.

 

[Sam_Skunkman]

I think that the Obama Admin will strike first in that regard. Whether one agrees with it or not, they see the drug war as racist in implementation, ending it in its current form as an issue of racial justice. Declassifying MJ plays right into their desired scenario. They just need for the Colorado experience to play out a little further. They knew what they were doing & the likely outcome when they backed CO & WA in our legalization efforts.

I do not agree that the "Obama Admin backed CO & WA in our legalization efforts."

I doubt they supported it, they certainly were not public or vocal in their support. I think Obama has been a big let down for Cannabis reform, for not closing Guantanamo, and a whole lot of other issues that he seemed to support before he was elected and now seems to forget. I guess he is better than Romney or McCain, but I would never vote for him again even if I could. Maybe if he rescheduled Cannabis down to Schedule 3 or lower or transfered control to the states like with alcohol, I would vote for him again, if I could.
-SamS

 

[Sam_Skunkman]

It's interesting that Europeans have never really seen corn as people food but rather as food for domestic animals. My family's church sponsored a Belgian foreign exchange student long ago who was quite surprised that we ate the stuff. He ended up rather pleased with it, as well.

Cultural food preferences are pretty remarkable, with some eagerly devouring what others find revolting. Filipino balut is a prime example of that.

Many people did not want to try my sweet corn, they found me eating it uncooked revolting until they tasted it, then they understood. Most people prefer it boiled one minute with maybe butter and maybe salt.
I found the mayo on french fries here pretty bad at first, now it is ok.
-SamS

 

[TDJester]

IMO this is the sound of the floodgates opening.. Up until now the effort/movement was a steady trickle but the dam hadn't broke yet. This newspaper say what you will, wields influence that we may not see from our perspective in our counterculture but represents popular opinion in the mainstream that we've established a foot in the door with, but have yet to swing it wide open.

This... is... EPIC!

 

[armedoldhippy]

I think that the Obama Admin will strike first in that regard. Whether one agrees with it or not, they see the drug war as racist in implementation, ending it in its current form as an issue of racial justice. Declassifying MJ plays right into their desired scenario. They just need for the Colorado experience to play out a little further. They knew what they were doing & the likely outcome when they backed CO & WA in our legalization efforts.

I don't think that they actually "backed it" and if they had, there would have been a huge backlash because of that. the best thing they could have done is...nothing. let the voters take the lead. if O had pushed it, GOP right-wingers would have been screaming in the streets about how he is "poisoning our children!" as it is, all he has done is let the states exercise their rights, which is what the right has been yelling about all along. now their chickens are coming home to roost, & Colorado is shitting on their windshields, LOL! you want states rights? THIS is what they look like! YES!

 

[Bulldog420]

Federal law makes no distinction between medical and recreational cannabis. With that in mind, you might want to reconsider which presidents have been "disgracing" our country.

Yea, unless you talk about canna related products on the stock market. Also, if I had to think of presidents that have disgraced our country.....Obama, the Bushes, soon the be both Clinton's, Wilson, just a few all-starts. Were you still making the republican vs democrat argument yet again????? When will you learn, two wrongs never make a right.

 

[Jhhnn]

I do not agree that the "Obama Admin backed CO & WA in our legalization efforts."

I doubt they supported it, they certainly were not public or vocal in their support. I think Obama has been a big let down for Cannabis reform, for not closing Guantanamo, and a whole lot of other issues that he seemed to support before he was elected and now seems to forget. I guess he is better than Romney or McCain, but I would never vote for him again even if I could. Maybe if he rescheduled Cannabis down to Schedule 3 or lower or transfered control to the states like with alcohol, I would vote for him again, if I could.
-SamS

Their support has been functional. They rewrote DoJ enforcement guidelines to accommodate our desires. They created ways for state legal cannabis industry to directly access the banking system, which is huge, a giant flashing green light for investors & venture capitalists. Holder recently had a nice chat with Ms Leonhart of the DEA, apparently correcting any misunderstanding she may have had wrt what to say & when to say it, as well.

As I offered, state level legalization appears to be very much a part of their sentencing reform initiative, even if they're not really making that obvious. They just cleared away any obstacles we had to making it perfectly obvious that legal marijuana is superior public policy, that it can work to nearly everybody's advantage. They shrewdly kept their distance, let it be our thing, didn't put us in the position of taking any abuse on their part. You might have noticed that they are subject to an enormous amount of abuse.

It's only been 7 months of open retail sales w/ a year of personal legalization prior to that. By any honest metric, and there are plenty, we're considerably better off than we were. By "we", I mean the whole state. Those trends will continue, I'm sure. By the numbers, we're absolutely crushing it, and we'll just keep putting up more of the same numbers.

Once this election is out of the way & the new Congress sworn in, the rhetoric will shift enormously, because it has to do so. MMJ & Legalization have become open mainstream issues, backed by wide & growing public acceptance of cannabis. It's the culmination of 50 years' effort. It's not a "dangerous drug abuse" issue any more, at all. It's a civil rights issue, a whole different conversation.

 

[Jhhnn]

Yea, unless you talk about canna related products on the stock market. Also, if I had to think of presidents that have disgraced our country.....Obama, the Bushes, soon the be both Clinton's, Wilson, just a few all-starts. Were you still making the republican vs democrat argument yet again????? When will you learn, two wrongs never make a right.

So you've opposed state level MMJ all long, I take it?

It only exists because 3 successive presidents have failed to enforce federal law.

I was making the can't hate-um Obama for doing the same as his predecessors argument unless you were hating them at the time, too. Obama just dealt with state level retail cannabis much the same way his predecessors dealt with MMJ.

If you want to say "They're All the Same!" I'd mostly agree wrt this issue only & offer "So What?" in return. That wasn't Sforza's argument, anyway.

 

[moses wellfleet]

Things finally seem to be moving along at a good clip, just never fast enough for me. This all should never have happened. All this jumping on the bandwagon of the inevitable is great but how about granting amnesty for all those unjustly convicted during this huge miscarriage of justice?

So many peaceful people wrongly convicted.... WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS!

 

[GoonSaibot]

About time a reputable publication pointed out the fact that cannabis is far more benign than alcohol, which is legal, has no medicinal value, and does untold damage to individuals and society. But drinking a small amount of alcohol can be enjoyable and enhances social settings, just like smoking marijuana can be enjoyable and can enhance social settings. In any case, adults should be able to make their decision to use or not use either product without fear of going to jail.

true but i don't think alcohol has no medical value...

 

[Gry]

NYT is very pro corporate, and will rubber stamp anything the 1% have an interest in, but not at all reputable.

 

[Jhhnn]

NYT is very pro corporate, and will rubber stamp anything the 1% have an interest in, but not at all reputable.

Compared to the Wall St Journal, they're a buncha commies.

Liberal Establishment seems an apt description. It's good that they've come out for legalization. At the editorial level, they're widely read, persuasive & held in high regard by many. They're hard to ignore, even for their ideological adversaries.

 

[Growcephus]

NYT is very pro corporate, and will rubber stamp anything the 1% have an interest in, but not at all reputable.

The 1%?

What are you, 12?

They'll shill propaganda for anybody that pays them, and anybody that supports their world view.

 

[bigAl25]

If the Colorado law is followed by other states all of us small time growers could grow six plants at a time. That would be enough to keep me happy for a year or more. No tax revenue for the state and a happy grower. Any move to remove medical ganja and make it all recreational would really do harm to those who need ganja for the ailments. The medical price in Colorado is one half of what the recreational sells for. I posted my experience in Favorite Colorado weed store deal. Any move to legalization, and we need this country wide, too damn many people in prison for cannabis, must include the ability to grow your own and avoid the taxes they will heap on to ganja. We must make our views known to the sometimes shady people we elect, and support, with funds, organizations that will promote this worth cause. Peace and respect Mon and WoMon.

 

[bigAl25]

Where the fuck is the spell check? Worthy cause DAMN IT.

 

[armedoldhippy]

"But that would leave their citizens vulnerable to the whims of whoever happens to be in the White House and chooses to enforce or not enforce the federal law."

But I thought that the President takes an oath to uphold the laws of the United States, i.e. faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States?

"I guess the NYT thinks that it is perfectly OK for the President to pick and choose which laws to uphold and which ones to ignore. That is a slippery slope."

you mean like Obama is doing right now?

 

[Gry]

Like unitary executive maybe.