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04/06/17 John Oliver Launches 17 minute Video-Viral Assault on Federal Marijuana Laws

subrob

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
No you don't get it. It's not your AG or the Federal Govt enforcing marijuana prohibition anymore and it really never was. The president said its up to states now to enforce there own laws and now that is the law of the land. The dirty little secret is it was you the states all along enforcing prohibition and now they want to have medical mmj shops while keeping the laws the same. They are only punishing personal growers and people who have excess crops and want to get rid off. They just don't want people making any money of cannabis. They don't like and and never did.

Its the fucking states doing it.
Uhhhhhhmmmmmm...?
 
I love it when people who's arguments don't stand up so they resort to this sort of thing. And we are all cucks in 3...2...1..

It looks like pastel pant suit man is following me around today. I don't have the time to entertain idiots all day. Especially idiots that can't grasp the very simple context of what they are reading.
 

subrob

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Yep because the bottom line is that they think that they are God!
Oh....
They are gonna find out who God is and may God have mercy on their souls.

peace

Ya...Many of us don't feel like waiting for various "gods" to sort it out and burn people or give them virgins or make them come bAck as donkeys..I'm just looking at reality based shit to change
 

subrob

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
It looks like pastel pant suit man is following me around today. I don't have the time to entertain idiots all day. Especially idiots that can't grasp the very simple context of what they are reading.

Very simple context of what they are seeing don't you mean? It's a box of manpons....Seen the same picture in many threads on many sights...Always in the same context...so...No need to read the box.

Annnnnd maybe I'm following political threads and not you? Maybe you just happen to be the latest "non pant suit wearer" and "non cuck" stAting regurgitated arguments and buzz words that I've entered into conversation with?
 

subrob

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Believe me ill...It's not just the right...I made a "liberal" cry last week on one of these threads. Fukn hilarious!
 

cravin morehead

Active member
Veteran
All this guy does is assault the us governement, I understand the governement has its issues but if this guy hates America so much maybe he should go back to England.

I honestly can't stand foreigners that come to the US but shit all over everything about it. Piers Morgan, Trevor Noah and John Oliver can go choke on a turd.

Truth hurts sometimes you know...

Cm
 

THCengineer

Member
John Oliver Calls Out Jeff Sessions [16.51 video]

John Oliver Calls Out Jeff Sessions [16.51 video]

Last-Week-Tonight-Marijuana-MEME-1-1.jpg


http://www.vulture.com/2017/04/john-oliver-marijuana-lady-gaga-jeff-sessions.html

John Oliver Calls Out Jeff Sessions for Using a Lady Gaga Quote to Argue Against Marijuana

Is Jeff Sessions a little monster? Once upon a time, the attorney general used a Lady Gaga quote to argue against medical marijuana. “This drug is dangerous, you cannot play with it, it’s not funny, it’s not something to laugh about,” Sessions says in a clip unearthed on Last Week Tonight. “Lady Gaga has said she’s addicted to it and it’s not harmless.” In a segment about the myriad federal and state legislations governing medical marijuana use (including audio of Richard Nixon saying he’s determined to “hit [medical marijuana advocacy] right square in the puss”), Oliver calls out Sessions' selective Gaga knowledge. “Lady Gaga also said, ‘I believe that men and women deserve to love each other equally,’ as well as ‘Touch me in the dark, put your hands all over my body parts,’” Oliver said. “So please, Jeff, if you’re going to live your life according to Gaga quotes, accept the entire canon.”

:tiphat: :thank you: :blowbubbles: :wave:
 

GruffaloCrumble

New member
Regardless of what country someone is from, good sense is good sense.
Not giving a shit "because MY STATE has legalized medicinal" is just plain ****y.
Good for you, you don't give a shit about anyone else. Congrats on being a douche.
In the meantime thousands of fellow Americans are being incarcerated, harassed and exposed to the violence inherent in the illegal system because FEDERAL laws trump state laws, and some states don't give a shit either.

Name me one job an illegal immigrant has taken personally from you.
Show me one gun Obama grabbed from your hands.

Really the shitty thing is that people get so wrapped up in supporting "their team" they can't look at things in a granular fashion, and instead blanket one side or the other with bullshit. Most of us are happily in the middle, and not ****y extremists on either side of the fence.

Don't like abortion? Don't get an abortion.
Like guns? Buy a gun.
Want a job picking fruit for $3 an hour, I can set you up.

Until people get off their high horses and realize that Trump has just cut out the middleman - we've always been run by rich assholes, and work together to actually address the issue, we are fucked. The only difference with Trump is it's easier to see him pumping away furiously behind us because he has no subtlety.
 

resin_lung

I cough up honey oil
Veteran
I'm amazed at how many people I know think they're middle class. They also like go on about those forces that are trying to destroy the middle class. I always think.... "trying"?

It's gone, just look at his tax cut/zero reform bill. It's crazy. I'm telling you it's fkn outrageously un fair!

Anybody ever catch an epidode of American pickers? You know when they're going through somebody's crap and they find something, hit the guy up and he says "heck just gimme $5 for that" and mike says no.... I'll give you $100!

I know people that would come UP if anything close to that passes. They feel basically what mike did! "Basically would feel like thier stealing"!

It's a fleecing! In all seriousness, it would be a fleecing. The regulations and scales they tossed, the deductions lost....

I think it's too much for the average American to understand. Those that do thier own taxes or who take thier taxes to HR block or don't own a big enough business there is a lot that they would have no reason to understand. Unless they are an economics major. It's all I can come up with as to why the whole of America hasn't begun revolting yet! They'll figure it out soon enough I guess, if it somehow goes anywhere.

Edit: MONEY WILL CONTINUE TO BE AN ISSUE FOR SESSIONS.
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
you obviously dont work as a tradie or you at least have a union job Gruffalo cause illegals have literally took hundreds of jobs from me personally.this is FACT.no hate just fact.shits getting real, real quick.about to lose my farm.already lost a house in Gary.fuck that place though.dont care about that
 

THCengineer

Member
MONSANTO & BAYER GMO CANNABIS TAKEOVER

MONSANTO & BAYER GMO CANNABIS TAKEOVER

marijuana_lab.jpg


https://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/...-of-the-marijuana-industry-by-bayer-monsanto/
All signs point to a corporate takeover of the marijuana industry by Bayer, Monsanto - Monsanto and Bayer share information on how to genetically engineer cannabis (continued)

https://www.wakingtimes.com/2017/06/21/monsanto-bayer-maneuvering-take-cannabis-industry/
MONSANTO AND BAYER ARE MANEUVERING TO TAKE OVER THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY -Jun 25, 2017

It has been rumored for years that Monsanto plans to take over the cannabis industry with genetic engineering just as they’ve taken over the corn and soy industries. Although they have always denied having any intentions to do so, at this point it is unlikely that anybody really believes them. In contrast, many in the cannabis sphere are prepared to resist any kind of GMO takeover of marijuana by Monsanto or any of their cohorts.
Evidence is mounting, though, which points strongly to the notion that Monsanto does indeed plan to take control of the cannabis plant, and it doesn’t look good for medical users, or anyone planning on getting into the industry.

Former Nazi Collaborator Bayer Buys Out Monsanto for $66 Billion

You may remember hearing back in September that Bayer, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, made a deal to buy out Monsanto for $66 billion. Although Monsanto was voted the most evil company in the world in 2013 and its reputation has continued to fall since, Bayer still went ahead with the buyout.
A merger between these two companies is unsurprising, as though they both have long histories of involvement with Nazism and chemical weapons like agent orange which have devastated Vietnam since the war. In fact, Bayer began as a break-off company of the infamous IG Farben, which produced the chemical weapons used on the Jews during the Nazi reign. After the war, Farben was forced to break up into several companies, including BASF, Hoeschst, and Bayer.

Soon after at the Nuremberg trials, 24 Farben executives were sent to prison for crimes against humanity. However, in a matter of just 7 years each of them was released and began filling high positions in each of the former Farben companies, and many of them began working for the Russian, British, and American governments through a joint intelligence venture called “Operation Paperclip”.
“IG (Interessengemeinschaft) stands for “Association of Common Interests”: The IG Farben cartel included BASF, Bayer, Hoechst, and other German chemical and pharmaceutical companies. As documents show, IG Farben was intimately involved with the human experimental atrocities committed by Mengele at Auschwitz. A German watchdog organization, the GBG Network, maintains copious documents and tracks Bayer Pharmaceutical activities.” – Alliance for Human Research Protection
After all these years, Bayer is now richer and more powerful than their predecessor company I.G. Farben ever was.
Monsanto And Miracle-Gro Have Intimate Business Ties

According to Big Buds Magazine, Monsanto and Scotts Miracle-Gro have a “deep business partnership” and plan on taking over the cannabis industry. Hawthorne, a front group for Scotts, has already purchased three of the major cannabis growing companies: General Hydroponics, Botanicare, and Gavita. Many other hydroponics companies have also reported attempted buyouts by Hawthorne.
“They want to bypass hydroponics retail stores…When we said we won’t get in bed with them they said, ‘Well, we could just buy your whole company like we did with Gavita and do whatever we want.’” – Hydroponics Lighting Representative
Jim Hagedorn, CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro, has even said that he plans to “invest, like, half a billion in [taking over] the pot business… It is the biggest thing I’ve ever seen in lawn and garden.”

He has also invested in companies such as Leaf, which grows cannabis in an electronically regulated indoor terrarium accessible via smartphone.
Bayer and Monsanto Trade Industry Secrets On Producing GMO Marijuana

It is logical that Bayer, being the parent company, would work together with Monsanto in order to share secrets which would advance mutual business. Many people in the cannabis industry have been warning about this, including Michael Straumietis, founder and owner of Advanced Nutrients.
“Monsanto and Bayer share information about genetically modifying crops,” Straumietis notes. “Bayer partners with GW Pharmaceuticals, which grows its own proprietary marijuana genetics. It’s logical to conclude that Monsanto and Bayer want to create GMO marijuana.” – Michael Straumietis
Conclusion

It is possible that Bayer and Monsanto could create a monopoly on marijuana seeds in the same way that they have created a monopoly on corn and soy. Through immense corporate power and the enforcement of international patent law, these corporations could place themselves in a position of total control over cannabis as a medicine as well as for recreational use by using the same model as they do with the food crops they control.
But not all hope is lost. There is still a chance to fight back against the Bayer-Monsanto monopoly by boycotting genetically engineered products, Miracle-Gro and other Scotts brand products, Bayer pharmaceuticals, and companies that do business with any of these. You could even store seeds if you live in an area where it is legal and grow your own, while supporting hydroponics and nutrient companies that don’t do business with these corporate behemoths.
“Corporations and people with hundreds of billions of dollars know marijuana is a miracle plant. They want to come in and steal our plants, seeds, and industry from us, [and] we must stop them.” – Straumietis


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaf5xtxeag8
'Monster Marijuana' to Become Reality As Monsanto Patents GMO Pot

 

THCengineer

Member
U.K. political leader advocates legalization

U.K. political leader advocates legalization

stream_img.jpg

Nick Clegg, former Deputy Prime Minister​

Legalizing cannabis would dramatically improve public health while depriving criminal gangs of a major revenue source, says U.K. political leader. -- Tuesday, June 20, 2017 by: Lance D Johnson

Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg thinks that cannabis should be legalized across the United Kingdom. He contends that legalization will bring in $1 billion in annual tax revenue while depriving criminal gangs of a major revenue source. He also believes a standard, regulated product would prevent purchases of high THC skunkstrains that are dominating the black market.

Prohibition of cannabis sativa around the world has resulted in mass incarceration, widespread paranoia between people and law enforcement, loss of privacy and property, unnecessary violence and death. Yet more people smoke the plant than ever before. The latest data estimates that two million people in England and Wales smoked cannabis in 2016. Prohibition of this plant has only helped finance criminal drug gangs while wasting valuable court system time and jail cells. Why are non-violent people being locked up over this? In the U.K., anyone caught in possession of cannabis could face up to five years in prison. Dealers can face 14 years in prison. All this racketeering could be put to an end with legalization. Isn’t it time to accept this plant as part of who we are and end all the human separation?

Prohibition has also encouraged growers to breed the cannabidiol (CBD) out of the plant, while maximizing the tetrehydrocannabinol (THC) content (the psychoactive part of the plant). This has led users to become dependent on the high, while missing out the benefits of the plant.

Opponents to legalization fear that legalization sends the wrong message about drug use. Mr. Clegg argues that legalization would help remove super strength “skunk” TCH strains from the streets. Making cannabis legal would improve public health, he contends. If cannabis was sold over the counter, then criminal gangs would no longer be able to profit from illegal sales, either.

Mr. Clegg asserts, “The opponents of regulation should ask themselves this: what other public health problem do we contract out entirely to organized criminals? Instead of looking for real solutions, they expect us to believe that the criminal law will prevail, despite no evidence that this approach has ever worked anywhere in the world.”

Mr. Clegg takes it a step further and proposes that the U.K. sell the cannabis in standardized, plain packaging. This would do two things. First, it would lessen demand and make getting high less enticing. Second, it would ensure that users aren’t getting a “skunk” strain, bred just for the high. Britain’s illegal drug market is now saturated with “skunk” cannabis strains. Figures estimate that skunk varieties make up 80 percent of the black market. The demand for and dependence on this highly modified form would dissipate if standardized cannabis extracts were made available over the counter. The standard wouldn’t contain tobacco, additives or other drugs. Legalization and proper regulation could clean up the underground cannabis market, helping rid high THC strains and synthetic forms that are tied to mental health issues. (Related: Read more news on health freedom at HealthFreedom.news.)

“Regulation would allow us to control the product, capping maximum strength and requiring that all varieties contain CBD,” says Mr. Clegg. “Labeling requirements would end the lottery where cannabis users have no idea what they are buying.” King’s College London experts said in 2015 that the most potent forms are responsible for new cases of psychotic mental illness.

Legalization would end the guesswork of what people are really smoking and could help put an end to the “reefer madness.”
People everywhere should be free to enjoy their time and connect with nature how they deem fit. Cannabis possesses many healing virtues, and if legalized, could dramatically improve public health.

(Related: Learn more about the healing virtues of this sacred plant at CannabisCures.News.)

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
 

THCengineer

Member
The DEA Just Admitted Marijuana Has Never Killed Anyone And Causes ‘Happiness’

The DEA Just Admitted Marijuana Has Never Killed Anyone And Causes ‘Happiness’

https://humansarefree.com/2017/07/the-dea-just-admitted-marijuana-has.html#more
The DEA Just Admitted Marijuana Has Never Killed Anyone And Causes ‘Happiness’

The Drug Enforcement Agency just admitted that cannabis has never killed anyone. Ever.
They also acknowledged that the little green plant, which has been used across civilizations for thousands of years, causes “merriment” and “happiness.” But they still want to keep it illegal.

The new 94-page report released this week is entitled “Drugs of Abuse” and is intended to foster a better understanding of the dangers of drug consumption.


“Education plays a critical role in preventing substance abuse,” the document opens.

“Drugs of Abuse, A DEA Resource Guide, is designed to be a reliable resource on the most commonly abused and misused drugs in the United States.”

While the report correctly includes seriously dangerous drugs like heroin, fentanyl, and pharmaceutical opioids, it also includes substances increasingly proven to be far less harmful than the government would like its citizens to believe — “drugs” that actually have medicinal properties.

The report fails to acknowledge these benefits throughout its in-depth explanations.

Nevertheless, when it comes to cannabis, the DEA is surprisingly honest, at least in part.

Describing the plant for what it is — a “dry, shredded green/brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves” — they note that “[n]o deaths from overdose of marijuana have been reported.”

They even acknowledge that cannabis use can cause
“[m]erriment, happiness, and even exhilaration at high doses,” as well as “[d]isinhibition, relaxation, increased sociability, and talkativeness.”

The illegal, allegedly dangerous substance even causes — gasp — “[e]nhanced sensory perception, giving rise to increased appreciation of music, art, and touch.”

Of course, the report focuses far more on the “dangerous” effects of the plant, including bronchitis, emphysema, paranoia, anxiety, panic attacks, and a litany of other alleged dangers.

Despite the fact that research has found marijuana use has few significant effects on lung health — far less than legal tobacco use — and the fact that mounting evidence shows varieties of cannabis like CBD (cannabidiol) can help treat anxiety and other mental health ailments, the DEA displays no such nuance in their explanations, instead appearing to base their assessment of safety on the legality of the drug.

For example, though they claim cannabis can cause nausea, they go on to explain in the very same section that:

“Marinol, a synthetic version of THC, the active ingredient found in the marijuana plant, can be prescribed for the control of nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapeutic agents used in the treatment of cancer and to stimulate appetite in AIDS patients.”

Wait, what?

Indeed, though cannabis is indisputably a form of medicine, whether for nausea, anxiety, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, chronic pain, or countless other disorders, the DEA insists that because it is a Schedule I drug, it has no medicinal value.

The same pattern emerges with psychedelic drugs, which the federal government also claims have no medicinal value despite increasing evidence that MDMA can help treat PTSD (the FDA itself has authorized research into the drug’s potential for helping those who suffer with it) and that psychedelic mushrooms and LSD can help treat depression.

None of this is acknowledged in the report. Instead, myths that they are addictive and dangerous abound.

Further, conspicuously absent from “Drugs of Abuse” is one of the most dangerous, addictive, and harmful drugs in the history of mankind: alcohol.

According to the government, itself, alcohol is responsible for 88,000 deaths per year in the United States, and 15.1 million Americans suffer from “Alcohol Use Disorder.”

But the substance remains legal. Interestingly, the alcohol industry remains one of the largest anti-marijuana legalization lobbies.

The agency’s dogmatic adherence to arbitrary law is the reason why alcohol is excluded from this comprehensive attempt to educate Americans on the dangers of substance abuse.

As the report explains in the introduction:

“There are also a number of substances that are abused but not regulated under the CSA [Controlled Substance Act]. Alcohol and tobacco, for example, are specifically exempt from control by the CSA,” and are therefore not included in “Drugs of Abuse.”

Other hypocrisies abound.

For example, the report lists benzodiazepines like Xanax as potentially addictive drugs, noting that those who use “benzodiazepines to treat anxiety are likely to be physically dependent on that medication.”

But according to the CSA, on which they base their entire drug enforcement agenda, drugs like Xanax have “low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence.”

This is patently false, as 13.5 million Americans are dependent on drugs like Xanax, overdoses are on the rise, and side effects of quitting the drug include heart palpitations, panic attacks, and seizures in extreme cases.

Yet the DEA, which enforces the CSA, admits in its own report that Xanax causes physical dependency.

Ultimately, while the DEA admits cannabis has never caused deaths and can make for a good deal of “merriment” and “exhilaration,” the most telling aspect of the report is the futility of banning drugs in the first place.

The exclusion of alcohol from this report — except the countless instances where it acknowledges that the drug can intensify other drug experiences — shows the federal government’s tirades against “drugs” have nothing to do with keeping people safe.

Prohibition in the 1920s proved this, and the ongoing failure that is the “War on Drugs” continues to prove it today.

Even abusing the dangers of cannabis, MDMA, and other drugs the DEA lists in its report are accurate, the fact remains that other legal drugs pose just as many, if not more dangers, and individuals should be free to take risks with their own health, just as they are with alcohol and tobacco.

Legal or not, people will find ways to use drugs, and while the authors of “Drugs of Abuse” likely have good intentions, their efforts are futile in their lack of honesty about many of the substances listed and their continued belief that more government and throwing non-violent people in cages will solve the deeply-rooted problem of addiction.

By Carey Wedler, Guest author
 

Gypsy Nirvana

Recalcitrant Reprobate -
Administrator
Veteran
Great post THCengineer.

It's plain to see why cannabis is still demonized, prosecuted and persecuted by multiple government agencies, even though the truth about it's benefits to all becomes ever clear year on year......you just have to follow the gravy train of paychecks that have supported so many government employees across a vast spectrum of agencies for the past 80 years or so, ever since alcohol prohibition was eradicated.

And still the federal government states in federal law that cannabis has no known medical benefits, when most everyone knows that is a LIE!
 

THCengineer

Member
After Legalizing Weed, Unemployment in Colorado Lower Than Rest of Country July 12/17

After Legalizing Weed, Unemployment in Colorado Lower Than Rest of Country July 12/17

20121217-pot-map-600-1355773363.jpg

By fully legalizing marijuana through direct democracy, Colorado and Washington
have fundamentally changed the national conversation about cannabis.​

https://wakeup-world.com/2017/07/12...yment-in-colorado-lower-than-rest-of-country/
After Legalizing Weed, Unemployment in Colorado Lower Than Rest of Country 12th July 2017 By Carey Wedley

Three years after legalizing cannabis, Colorado has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. “While the national unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent in May, the lowest since 2001, Colorado’s jobless rate is the nation’s lowest at 2.3 percent,” CNBC reported.

According to Governor John Hickenlooper, multiple factors have contributed to Colorado’s job growth, including the state’s business-friendly policies. He touts the state’s very low business tax rate, noting Colorado has “one of the lowest business income tax levels at just a little over 4.6 percent.”

This approach has helped create over 60,000 jobs in the clean energy sector, a fact that should please both business and environmental advocates. One of the main factors in Colorado’s successful economy, however, is undeniably the cannabis industry.

Last year, cannabis generated $1.3 billion in profit, which yielded nearly $200 million in tax revenue that the state is using for various programs, including education, substance abuse and cannabis awareness programs for youth, and even the Attorney General’s office.

Further, with over a billion dollars in business, jobs undoubtedly follow.

In 2015, alone, the state’s cannabis industry created 18,000 new full-time jobs. As the Washington Post reported:
These indirect impacts of marijuana legalization came from increased demand on local goods and services: growers rent warehouse space and purchase sophisticating lighting and irrigation equipment, for instance. Marijuana retailers similarly rely on other companies, like contractors, lawyers and book-keeping services, to conduct their own businesses.”
That growth has continued. In July of last year, CBS reported that according to the Marijuana Business Daily, “Colorado now has 27,000 occupational licensees, up from about 16,000 at the end of 2014, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Though clean energy jobs currently outnumber on-the-record cannabis jobs by roughly 35,000, the speed of job creation appears far quicker with weed. According to the Denver Business Journal, for example, the clean energy sector created 1,583 new jobs in 2014. By comparison, the Marijuana Business Daily reported in May of 2014 that less than six months after legalization, the cannabis industry had already generated between 1,000 and 2,000 new jobs — roughly the same number of jobs as clean energy created in the course of the whole year.

Further, according to a 2016 Clean Jobs Colorado report by the organization Environmental Entrepreneurs, Colorado already had 62,000 clean energy jobs in 2015 — roughly where it rests now — making that industry’s growth apparently slower than the 18,000 new cannabis-related jobs the Post reported for the same year (it’s important to note, however, that some of these jobs already existed but were part of the black market and were counted as “new” when the industry was legalized).

This is promising news not just for Colorado, but the broader market. “Cannabis-related companies now employ an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 full and part-time workers, according to a new report by Marijuana Business Daily,” CBS noted last year.
As Business Insider pointed out in March, California, home to the world’s sixth largest economy, fully legalized marijuana last November. Its state capital region alone could see 20,000 jobs created if it becomes a hub for the industry.”

According to a report from the New Data Frontier, which focuses on cannabis industry data, there could be as many as 283,000 jobs in cannabis by 2020. Business Insider points out that this figure will outpace the manufacturing industry, which is expected to lose 814,000 jobs by 2024.

In Colorado, where Governor Hickenlooper initially opposed legalization but changed his mind when he saw the positive results, there are yet to be serious negative consequences. Though Hickenlooper told CNBC it’s still “too soon to know” what the downsides may be, he remained optimistic.

We don’t see more people doing more marijuana in Colorado after legalization. It’s through a regulated process now,” he said.
But we haven’t seen a big spike in teenage consumption, we haven’t seen a big spike in any consumption.”

It appears the only spike so far has been in jobs, coupled with other forward-thinking developments like the growth of the clean energy sector and the freedom for businesses to thrive.
 

THCengineer

Member
Study finds that closing dispensaries may actually cause an increase in crime rates

Study finds that closing dispensaries may actually cause an increase in crime rates

rsz-study-finds-that-closing-dispensaries-may-actually-increase-crime.jpg

Study finds that closing dispensaries may actually cause an increase in crime rates - By Julia Granowicz - Jul 13, 2017

In 2010, there was a mass shut down of dispensaries in the Los Angeles area. There was a total of 439 dispensaries closed because they were no longer compliant with the city’s regulations once they changed. While prohibitionists would have you believe that having dispensaries in the area will increase the crime rate, a recent study published in the Journal of Urban Economics says quite the opposite.

“[W]e find no evidence that closures decreased crime,” authors wrote. “Instead, we find a significant relative increase in crime around closed dispensaries.” Specifically, researchers estimated that “an open dispensary provides over $30,000 per year in social benefit in terms of larcenies prevented.”

The study, conducted by the University of Southern California and University of California, Irvine, found that in areas where dispensaries closed they saw about a 12% increase in crime. Specifically, there was an increase in larceny, property crimes and auto break-ins. The findings are similar to those of a previous study in Denver, conducted by Marijuana Policy Project, which found an 8.2% decrease in crime after a dispensary was introduced to the neighborhood.

It also falls right in line with the same kind of increase in crime in an area after a restaurant closes (or when many do). It goes to show that the more people are around, the less chance there is a crime will be committed – and having restaurants, or dispensaries, or any other type of retail establishment in the area is going to improve the “walkability score” and likely decrease crime in the area.

“Contrary to popular wisdom, we found an immediate increase in crime around dispensaries ordered to close relative to those allowed to remain open,” Jacobson told Science Daily “Our results demonstrate that the dispensaries were not the crime magnets that they were often described as, but instead reduced crime in their immediate vicinity.”

Studies like this are great because they help correct the myths that continue to circulate as reasons against legalizing cannabis. It has proven beneficial to entire communities in many ways, including reducing opioid-related overdoses, and now we have some proof that dispensaries actually help to decrease crime in neighborhoods.
 

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