One hundred dollar fine compared to a five hundred dollar purchase of MF for instance. The government does not want to break home budgets; it wants to break the habit of those who consume MJ. One hundred dollars does not seem to be enough. In CA a moving violation in a construction zone results in a double fine. If someone is caught with MJ near a school, then double their fine for posession of MJ while leading an entourage of children.

How about a "Spin Your Sentence" wheel? It ranges from a "slap on the wrist" (literally) to 40 years in Siberia.

How about some community service when you eat too many Twinkies. I mean seriously, why punish someone who wants to smoke pot? I know "hardcore" users who smoke multiple times a day because they enjoy it. These same people don't touch other drugs at all. Nada.

I agree with proud...Veteran, a ticket and community service! The jails are overcrowded anyway, and I can't really consider possession of a little pot deserves jail time.

Community service for what reason? A ticket is bad enough but I understand that baby steps are needed to eventually legalize marijuana. What good does community service do? It's not going to dissuade anyone from smoking pot. Nor will a ticket. But, that generates revenue. Again, what good does community service provide? Free labor? Puhlease.

There should be no ramifications for carrying a pound of marijuana on you. Hell, haul around an entire bale of it on your back for all I care. There are worse crimes in the world and much MUCH worse substances in the world. Just look at alcohol. We all know the facts and numbers.

But what I'm always curious about is: why do they always put a restriction on the weight you can have on you? What if someone just strolled over to their dealer and bought 2oz FOR PERSONAL USE?! But then Johnny Dumbfuk the 16 y/o local high school hookup went and got 1/4oz to dole out in dimebags to the unsuspecting masses? Just because someone happens to be galavanting around with a sizeable amount of pot on them doesn't mean that they have ANY intentions whatsoever to sell it. This is where proof of "intent to sell" needs to be found.

Pot is effing benign. WHEN WILL THEY LEARN?!?!!!??!!!

I think Proud veteran is living in the 1930's, and in the 70's I regularly would see 1/4 lbs for personal use.

oh by the way that lasts 2 weeks just enough to get to next payday from work, yes work!

More people shot in Chi. than Afghanistan and this guy is worried about pot? His comrade Obama told him to get the focus somewhere else. Ha Ha

Proud, You certainly have a unique outlook on what type of people pot smokers are. Despite your adherence to the protestations of the temperence movement, Marijuana is not an evil drug, nor are most of it's users. I do not take any drug whatsoever, except for marijuana. No aspirin, no pain killers, NO ALCOHOL. Despite my abhorance of alcohol, i do not go around passing judgement on people who enjoy a drink to relax. I would just like the same respect shown for a drug that, scientifically speaking, is less harmful than most prescription drugs doled out and certainly cheaper and more effective at accomplishing the desired effect. Anti marijuana advocates need to stop believing the hype from 50 years ago and really, if marijuana actually did what "Reefer Madness" portrayed it to do, I'd want to smoke it even more. Sadly, it just seems to be a mild stress reliever, you know, like a scotch and soda or a cold beer to a drinker. There really is no difference. And for the folks bringing children into this by saying you are okaying it in their eyes. Ummm....alcohol is legal and we certainly don't want our kids drinking while under age. Marijuan would be no different. It isn't marketed to children so how can you even use that argument.

Prouldamericanvet ........ i have smoked pot since the late 60's ....... i dont drink or any other drug ... i dont know where you get your information , but it stinks ... people of all ages, all professions , smoke marijuana ...... your not one of those guys that drinks, but, puts down anyone who smokes weed are you .. if you do drink or anyone else who drinks, your just as much of a druggie as that person you slam for smoking pot ........ oh, btw....... im a veteran too ..... USN 63 to 67 ...... have a nice day.

I hope this mayor does well...something has got to shift in this country....and its our job as citizens to show that we can handle this new "free will" and be responsible so that other states can follow suit

WE NEED to make sure we are reading between the lines here....are they doing this in a fail state so that they can claim that this plant is really dangerous....I wonder....

We cannot put this past the politicians that they have already got their dirty lil hands on this ready to throw it back in our hopeful faces.....ppl beware....

Chicago- i plead to you: show them we can do this! Please...keep your kids off of it..it will be the first thing that is used against us (increased adolescent use). Tell you kids it is not for them...its for those who medically need it and those can be responsible. Do not do it like a cigarette smoker! OMG it will fail....you have to be even more respectful than that...we might have the chance to set a standard here...i urge you to be safe, responsible, and respectful. TY and good luck i wish the best...it is time for all those lives who were put in a cage to be avenged!

its clear the American public is ignored and brushed off as stupid by those in authority and in media....why doesn't anyone listen to the people? Our country needs to create a way to publicly vote on these issues as a whole...but as it currently stands..one man goes on tv and tells the entire world that his decisions are what everyone wants...

As for this plant that was here before these selfish "free will haters"...........tell me how it has harmed you in anyway shape or form.....and i want real stories...not crap your first grade teacher told you with the scary dare office. There are stories...but are they what has been forced down our throats?...and how can we trust the very people who use scare tactics for generations upon generations to make laws

The initial criminalization in the 1930's followed a 30-year study that had concluded that marijuana had multiple medical uses as well as many technological uses-

Big money pharmacological, textile and oil had the most to gain from that legislation, which had been stacked in on the same bill that criminalized the possession of MACHINE GUNS ..

For those stupid enough to smoke pot, if they only have a little then fine them but report that list of those fined to any government agency that hands out tax dollars. Use pot or any other drug, no food stamps, no welfare, no subsidized housing or any other freebie paid for with other people's money.

All drugs should be decriminalized and made legal.

Do you get to keep the pot? They don't take your car when they write you a ticket for a traffic violation.

The people who are so anti-pot remind me of people who think all black people steal bikes and are on welfare. Then they realize they work with a black person who doesn't steal bikes and isn't on welfare... and it's an eye opener to the real truth about things.

Nah, they just think, "Well he just hasn't been caught yet."

remind me of people who think all black people steal bikes and are on welfare.

You mean republicans.

@EPH521: It's driven entirely by greed. Privatized prisons, pharmaceutical companies, synthetic fiber, the paper industry, fuel oil, and cotton markets all stand to lose billions if Marijuana is legalized. Think about it, you could count the amount of pot related deaths yearly, on one hand. Meanwhile, Alcohol and Tobacco kill tens of thousands if not more per year.

The whole prohibition was setup by DoW chemicals (Synthetic Fiber), Harry J Anslinger, and William Randolph Hearst (Wood pulp for paper), it was not out of fear of any human lives, it was out of fear of their profit margins.

@BMurphy - I completely agree with you. Back in my college days I remember a class where we studied the origins of why alcohol is legal and pot is not, etc. Pot is illegal for the reasons you listed - it was more of an economic and political decision than anything else... and ever since our Govt and vested third parties have been on a propaganda campaign to make pot evil. It's sad really, because so many Americans have been fooled into believing lies and end up hating on their fellow Americans who enjoy pot.

The teacher I had in that class suggested tobacco is legal because the growers were more united (think giant Co-op) back then and had more political clout, whereas the pot growers were not as united (think smaller independent growers) and didn't have any political clout to make pot legal. I wonder how many people are even aware of this. Not many obviously...

eph521: I know people who have smoked pot for 30 years and they're some of the most responsible people I know."

I completely agree with you. Some of them are doctors, attorneys, police and the sweet little old lady next door.

It should be decriminalized. There wouldn't be any Mexican Cartels and people getting killed. Tax it and get revenue for it seems more logical.

Sam Adams

You must be a Bill Maher toadie.

It should be taxed and we could balance the budget; put an age limit on it like liquor; you would see much less crime and deaths from the Mexican drug Lords...we are the drug lord customers;BUT OUR LEGISLATORS DON'T HAVE THE GUTS TO DO IT.. And, I don't even smoke it...but see how stupid it is to be illegal...we spend too much money on stopping drugs and don't stop anything..

Walk away! That is what they tell the children. Well government = Just walk away. Let marijuana alone.

People need to be responsible. This does not need to be up for discussion of - is it legal or ill-legal. God planted that plant on this earth, along with all the vegetables, fruits, trees, bushes and even the weeds we do not like in our gardens. All - All natural plants are on this earth for a reason and a purpose. People need to get back to that and stop trying to make money off the darn stuff, government included. Marijuana does tend to make people lazy, but that is why most of them do it at home, after work. I do not smoke but will defend your right to do so. If everyone could grow their own then no one would need to go looking for it, and no one would be fighting over it, no more money would be spent. The government needs to be focusing on the real crimes!

I feel the same way about guns. Every family/household should have one and know how to use it. There would be a lot less crime. Marijuana does nothing unless the - person does it and the same with guns. People need to be responsible for themselves, and the people around them. Where is the family unit? Oh - I forgot it's been broken. Isn't it time we fix it! Be a family, Be responsible, Be a friend. Put God first and all else will follow.

Peace!

@Jayson: Um...Rahm Emanuel's parents are both Jewish. Methinks you need to lay down the crack pipe.

Tim, the Only way you will eliminate the violence created by drugs and the cartels is when the idiots who use stuff like cocaine and heroin and the like stop using. THEY are the reason there's so much violence and gang wars and the like on the streets today.

Even if every state in the union decriminalized pot tomorrow, that fact will not change one bit. Pot is just a part of the cartel.

All you supporters of legalizing pot keep telling everyone that it's not dangerous, not addictive, yadda yadda yadda. But the other stuff the cartels and gangbangers fight over IS addictive. It IS dangerous. People will and HAVE killed over the stuff. Not just the dealers, but the users as well.

@Janine,

U claim 2 B a fence-sitter on this 1 but U sound like U R against legalizing pot. "yadda, yadda, yadda"? Way 2 B open-minded & "on the fence".

Walk away from the computer; U R overdue 4 your Prozac dose.

So the smart thing to do Janine would be to legalize the drugs; let Pfizer, Merck, J&J, & Phillips Morris sell the product instead of the cartels and gangbangers; and require that half of the revenue generated goes to subsidize treatment centers. But I understand that this might be to much common sense for most people (capitalism and small government principles).

@Janine: Yes, people kill over the illegal drugs trade, which is why we should remove it from the equation and make it legal. Home grown operations have already started cutting into the Mexican Cartel's profits, which reduces the demand for their product...since the stuff grown in the US is simply much higher in quality. Mexican brick weed is quite often seedy, compressed garbage.

But, the bigger point I'd like to make is that, regardless of whether it's Pot, or Heroine, or Cocaine, these cartels will always have power, as long as American's thirst for recreational drugs. And putting people in jail (where drugs are often easier to find than outside), does nothing. The only logical choice is to stop wasting billions of dollars yearly (and that's just on Marijuana prohibition alone), legalize and tax it. Give it an age restriction like we do with alcohol and tobacco. During the prohibition (of alcohol), people were getting killed for that too. You'd think we would've learned something by now.

Janine-1645002

let me get this straight...there is no way to separate pot from heroin.....? did i get your message right?

*if they made pot legal and heroin is still illegal...

ima tell you right now..if i smoked it and it became legal....id be so proud to walk into a shop and pay the asking price....id never meet someone in a parking lot again.....!!! So now that that *pot is sold at a shop....how is it tied to the cartel? and if the cartel is opening a shop with the correct licencing and such....how are they committing a crime....and how many other industries are run by cartels? do you know what those business are? .......perhaps we should make all business of buying or selling anything at all illegal since it might be used for evil.......come on here..i hope i can change how you feel or at least provide you with a scenario you might actually think about...that's all

Wake up dude. You must be retarded with your observation of Medical Marijuana. Who do you think grows and distribute the Marijuana coming into the U.S. The Mexican Drug Cartel. This law will give it a free reign to corrupt all City officials. Welcome to the modern version of Prohibition. This time, in the form of free protection by the Mayors Office.

What in the H$#L are you talking about?

By legalizing marijuana and allowing it to be grown on American soil, we take the power away from the Mexican Cartels. Prohibition promotes lawlessness, legalization promotes safety and regulation.

However... My major point was about the pharmaceutical companies influence on federal/state legislatures that continues to keep marijuana classified as a schedule 1 drug while other drugs (like Valium) are classified as less problematic. This, while most Americans are now of the opinion that Marijuana should be decriminalized across the board. (or at least controlled as much as alcohol and cigarettes are controlled).

Jayson, are you high? Most medical MJ centers grow and modify it themselves, as the crap from Mexico is, well, crap.

Jason, ur an idiot. Dispensaries from states that have established MMJ laws; grow, harvest and sell the herb in warehouses on their own property. jdp - You're right, nobody wants mexican crap anymore. Mexican herb=musty dirtweed.

I agree with 99.9 percent of what you stated, my question would be, with health care, does this not enhance the bottom line of the health insurance companies and big Pharn. for cannabis to stay illegal, therefore making Obama, Pro Big Business and thus a conservative party actiavis?

What a spin ha?

Winkster, I agree with you.....mostly.

"Sell it in packs like cigarettes and tax it."

I don't think this is a good plan considering how big business would certainly seek to maximize profits off of something that anyone can grow in their garden for next to nothing. Maybe a small license or permit to plant and grow but no more taxation.

it is a cleaver spin...except its reality

(don't even try to label what side of the isle this is about...pointless..they all fell from the same rotted tree)

dems

conservatives

libs

reps

lobbyists

WH administrators

cezars

....you and i both know in the end....they are all going to do what suits them financially and not what is good for you.

someday our politicians will realize that we could have been assets, but instead they allow corporations to waged war on us and play us against each other..

The better source of revenue is taxation on weed. Why leave it to chance that 1 out of 20 (pick your own percentage if you wish) will be paying into the government coffers through ticketing. Wanna smoke it, pay up.

They couldn't put this on the shelf of our 'state stores' fast enough for me to start buying legal, taxed weed. I have zero problem contributing this way. I do, however, have a huge problem with personal use punishment under the guise of most states that currently enforce mandates that are expensive to the taxpayers.

Do state and local governments leave it to chance that only DUI issuances are the only form of revenue they receive?

It's time for brewer and distiller lobbyists to take a hike. Turn your hops and barley fields into mean green machines!

P.S. I wanna hang out with about 70% of the people who voted in this poll. Partying with people who possess commonsense sounds like my kind of crowd.

Nah pot heads just want to be with other potheads like any other addict.

I on many occasions hear people say that the prohibition on alcohol did not work. Oh! But it did. Hospital admissions for alcohol problems diminished greatly and domestic violence also dropped drasticly. I also wonder how many people did not start drinking because of the difficulty of getting alcohol in many places. I feel that pot should probably be legalized. Let's still beware that we may open pandora's box.

This reminds me of a saying "If you can't beat em', tax em'" (in this case fines)

This is true, my girlfriends tell me that my semen is a hell of a drug. One of them fiends for a suck every hour. c:

Alcohol is a chemical......Booze is a beverage........Pot is the springboard to heavier drugs.

@AppeasersFate - You're just repeating what you've heard on TV or read in an article somewhere about pot being a gateway drug. How do you explain multi-year pot smokers who never touch any other drug? Are you honestly trying to say that if pot was eradicated from Earth that no one would do any drugs? Think about it, it's a bogus argument.

one could just as easily argue that tobacco and alcohol are "gateway" drugs...

So you are saying that you would have preferred your mother to die an excruciatingly painful death because she was at the end of her life? Grow up. You no doubt are one of those great family members who fights pain management tooth and nail for your family members because you think it is acceptable to die in pain, for THEM not you though. . Narcotic pain relievers have a place in palliative care and end of life care. But by all means if you should ever have a painful disease process please by pass the Narcotic pain relief and smoke a joint. And FYI you CAN NOT buy the poppy that produces Heroin legally in this Country nor can you order the seeds LEGALLY. So you better bone up on your " knowledge"

Hey Nana.....perhaps you should "bone" up on your knowledge. Why are you under the impression that pot cannot be used a pain killer? It's common knowledge. Also, you were not around to see my mother suffer and cry the last 3 years of her life because of the med's they had her on. SHE COULDN'T EVEN GO TO THE DAMN BATHROOM!!! Her own words...."I'd rather die than take this sh!t anymore." I'm sure that don't concern you as it doesn't complement your agenda, what ever that may be. People like you kill me. Mistaking your opinions for fact....a sure sign of a feeble mind.

And regarding the Poppy's??? I know people that's bought them and used them as a drug and they only had to drive down to the local nursery to buy them.

I bet you get tired of being wrong.

@Nana - maybe you should stop making wrong assumptions about people you don't know. And maybe read the post again... he's mocking the fact that Oxycontin is legal while Pot is illegal. Nothing more, nothing less. Amazing that you would reply the way you did, and to bring up the guy's Mom in your rant. Not cool Nana. Not cool.

Nana, you got personal, SHAME ON YOU! As a parent of 2 teens I have explained to them if given the choice smoke. I have smoked for 30 years and in that time I have never witnessed a fight involving anyone who had smoked (Can't say that about the booze) have never seen physical violence involving women and children (Can't say that about the booze) Haven't heard of auto fatalities under the influence of weed (Can't say that about the booze) Never heard of anyone calling in sick to work with a MJ hangover (Can't say that about the booze) Have never heard of any fatalities from anyone over indulging with weed (Can't say that about the booze) I can go on and on.

Those who say marijuana leads to the harder drugs is like saying taking cough syrup will lead to a quart of Jack a day. Lets get those in jail out for this petty @!$%# and open up cells for the real animals out there.

Okay; yes you CAN produce opium sap from just about ANY poppy. That is a true and given fact. But Papaver somniferum -- the "opium" poppy -- IS illegal and a prohibited plant in this country. Thompson and Morgan [British seeds company] made a big deal about discontinuing its sale at the requests of DOJ & DEA several years ago. Regular customer of theirs for years so I remember the whole fuss and feathers over it and the announcement flyer that came with my catalog one year about it.

Now, the only reason that mj is not already legal is money; you know it, I know it, and anybody that hasn't "drunk the Kool-aid" knows it. What other commonly available substance lets you pick somebody's pocket for at least a couple of grand? Add up court costs, attn. fees, fines, and possibility of jail time and you'll be out at least that. If it breaks the other way, and they find you with enough to pat themselves on the back over, you can bet you are going to jail or prison. Wonderful; where else can you pick up slave labor and wrap it up as rehabilitation. Besides more than a few people will tell you they went to prison with an associates in weed and came out with a doctorate in crime. I have even heard cops talk, at the restaurant I work at, about wanting to catch so and so up to "no good" again because they needed some electrical work done at the jail. Third, if like every smoker in the world, you have your common weed and your better weed separated then you could "catch a trafficking charge". Great way to lose you home, car, bank acct., anything of any value they want to "attach" and claim as "drug profits". Even more money in the pockets of the locals. And if big Pharma could get a cut of it, pot would not only be legal -- it would probably be one of the most widely prescribed drugs in use. I broke my back in 78 and have used mj as a pain medication all these years. I still have a healthy liver, kidneys, and heart; you can't say that about opiates users.

Has it ever crossed your mind that if you had decided to obey the law instead of breaking it, you could have saved yourself some money?

Has it ever crossed your mind that a free person in a so-called free society should have the freedom to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't subtract from the life, limb, health, and freedom of other members of this free society?

Do you, Poolman1, have a personal, vested interest in the type of vegetation that Antanella's Dad is smoking behind a bar? Perhaps we should just start stitching yellow, six-pointed stars on every pot smokers shirts and jackets so we can tell these deviants from the rest of society, eh?

Scott: When you get ticketed for driving 56 in a 55, remind us all of your hardcore stance on crime, OK?

MNSlim your words are the very ones that proves to the "ignorant" that this drug is making you act like that..

why not try to come off half intelligent and respectful so that you and the rest of us will be heard correctly instead of the example they are going to use on the nightly news to persuade the "perfect" to vote against this.....