Biden says he won't legalize marijuana because it may be a 'gateway drug'

It should be decriminalized nationally. But i think that's what he said anyways. I dont think biden is as against pot as you guys think.

Biden's face is a gateway drug!

Dude, you don't need to spend so much time arguing with him. The issues he's referring to are obvious to anyone paying attention. Police departments will get less clean money for their frivolous war on drugs and individual cops will get less dirty money from shaking down dealers. He's protecting his pocketbook, plain and simple.

If you're using it, it's for purely legal and medicinal purposes. You've got to treat that chronic pain and those pediatric seizures. Carry on, mrbojangles.

All impaired driving from drugs/alcohol can be severe. The idea anyonedrives better while impaired is so patently silly to me that I hold it up there to "these aren't my pants, officer."

I'm familiar with the area, how well received was the Netflix documentary about a certain mountain? Speaking of "farms", we recently had a local Deputy get murdered responding to a call for service at a marijuana farm. The rural mountain farms remain extremely dangerous.

Gamespot's ToU is specific about illegal substances and the promotion of said items. While discussion of its legal status is a more gray area, considering the wide range of US states which have it legal or illegal.

Easy solution, legalize the farms and farmers won't feel threatened by cops. Oh, but then who would the boys in blue shake down? Where oh where would the FOP clowns get the money they need to retire (other than their cherry pensions, of course)?

Are you defending the idea that those engaging in illegal activities have a reason to kill a cop because they are afraid they might get caught?

You should probably read about the story before jumping to conclusions. The officer that was killed was responding to a 911 call claiming that a robbery was taking place at the time and was shot upon arrival. He wasn't there to arrest them just because they were growing pot.

Source

The three men involved as well as a fourth person not involved with the shooting were charged by the feds after the fact, which would have never happened if they didn't murder a deputy after calling in a false report he responded to.

@warmblur said:

@DEVILinIRON said:

Biden's face is a gateway drug!

OK, that GIF is better than the God of War one, and I didn't think that could happen.

Cops blame the victim all the time, I'm just following the stellar example they've been setting for me.

And regardless, shootouts with illegal grow operations wouldn't be a problem if growing were legalized, just like shootouts with moonshiners weren't a problem once prohibition was ended. Police income from shaking down moonshiners did dramatically decrease, though.

And shoot outs with bank robbers or murderers etc wouldn't be a problem if we legalized those activities. That's not a good standard TBH for your argument.

Wouldn't the people involved consider it a problem? I think that's the difference here, it shouldn't be a problem to simply grow a plant, it's a very benign activity, but violent acts against others is anything, but benign.

It doesn't matter. Just because you think something illegal is ridiculous doesn't mean it's okay to use it as a justification.

Jaywalking is benign. Would you use that same excuse?

If memory serves me correctly, the two illegal immigrants who murdered the Deputy did not know he was a Deputy, but rather someone the farm owner had sent to deal with them. The farm owner did not tell the 911 operator that the two on his property were his workers, and instead stated they were trying to rob him. That same "farmer" was charged with manslaughter as well.

Secondly, marijuana grows are not illegal in California unless they lack the permit and authorization to have large scale grows. Everyone, according to California law, can grow a maximum of six plants on their property. There are a plethora of large legal marijuana farms within the state. If you want to deregulate it, then by all means, reach out to the California legislature. The issue is with the farms who do not follow the regulations, permit process, and tax evasions.

Although, recently seized 3k+ plants from an illegal grow, expecting 1.5 to 3 million in fines/asset forfeitures/account freezes. Hard to hide indoor grows when your electric bill is 27k a month.

we thought the same about trump in '16.

and here we are.

@LJS9502_basic: "Jaywalking is benign. Would you use that same excuse?"

I mean, yes? I think I would. We can discuss whether or not jaywalking truly is benign, and what counts as benign, but in general I don't think benign activities should be illegal.

And by that same logic criminalizing it isn't going to do anything to avoid situations like this because their operation was illegal and it was still involved in a shootout.

Yup, like I said, they're expecting millions of dollars in fines and forfeitures, and we should be surprised they oppose legalization? Even when you're blue, it's all about the green. And that's just the legal money. Come on, tell us, how much illegal cash just went missing on your watch? Bet you had to at least have a taste just to make sure the really dirty ones didn't get suspicious.

@theone86: The bigger hits come from the large scale counterfeiting operations. Criminals will exploit the system in any way they can, regardless of the legality/regulation that's imposed. To be honest, I'm not even sure what your argument even entails at this point. Very bizarre.

My argument is that I have a front row seat to the dirtiest, sleaziest, most corrupt police department in the country, so I know why badges want to keep weed criminalized. They regularly raid illegal drug operations in order to keep the dirty money for themselves, and if cannabis is legalized then they lose a potential revenue stream. No wonder, then, that they were able to literally dictate terms to the state legislature when they didn't like the first draft of the legislation that would legalize it.

"Cops will exploit the system in any way they can, regardless of the legality/regulation that's imposed."

Fixed.

Oh, you're arguing there's an underlying conspiracy.

To say marijuana is a gateway drug doesn't mean all marijuana users will seek harder drugs, but a percentage of them, as their body builds a tolerance to THC, will. Not all pot heads become heroin junkies, but virtually all heroin junkies started off as pot heads. So say you legalize pot, make it more socially acceptable, easier to get ahold of, and no one has to fear repercussions from taking it. Well, naturally a lot more people are going to use it, of that a percentage of them will get addicted to the drug itself, if not the dopamine that tends to go with it, and a percentage of them, after building a tolerance, will seek out heavier drugs, which will at the very least, have no impact on the number of people currently in prison for drug offenses, but will probably increase the number over all.

Personally, it makes little difference to me, I do not use it, and even if it was legal, I still wouldn't but if I did, I would at least have enough sense to understand that if I got arrested for it, that'd be on me and me alone for making that decision, not government, not police, not some evil conspiracy. You are responsible for your own actions and the outcome of them.

@Stevo_the_gamer said:

@theone86 said:

@Stevo_the_gamer said:

@theone86: The bigger hits come from the large scale counterfeiting operations. Criminals will exploit the system in any way they can, regardless of the legality/regulation that's imposed. To be honest, I'm not even sure what your argument even entails at this point. Very bizarre.

My argument is that I have a front row seat to the dirtiest, sleaziest, most corrupt police department in the country, so I know why badges want to keep weed criminalized. They regularly raid illegal drug operations in order to keep the dirty money for themselves, and if cannabis is legalized then they lose a potential revenue stream. No wonder, then, that they were able to literally dictate terms to the state legislature when they didn't like the first draft of the legislation that would legalize it.

"Cops will exploit the system in any way they can, regardless of the legality/regulation that's imposed."

Fixed.

Oh, you're arguing there's an underlying conspiracy.

Yeah, there's no conspiracy dude, it's fact. Two cops just got sentenced for this exact thing this last month, and there is a long and documented history of cops in my area raiding drug warehouses without making a single arrest. That's on top of the fact that they got caught red-handed trying to cover up evidence that eventually led to the conviction of a cop for murder and battery, that a high-ranking police officer ran a legitimate torture ring out of our police department, and an on-going investigation into a cop who ran his own drug ring and framed project residents in order to cover it up. The fact that you would try to paint police corruption as a conspiracy just solidifies in my mind that you're dirty yourself.

Wow, two cops? that's a lot, considering there's only about a few million of them in every city and town in every state across the country. Two whole cops you say? I better go hide under my bed so they can't get me.