Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Tobacco Regulation


Could this be the lead in to Marijuana Legalization

As of today, the Senate is working on a bill that already passed the House, on the regulation of Tobacco products. The Senate is making the changes they would like to see and will pass it back to the Congress for their approval. The main focus of this bill, as I understand it, is to prevent the use of tobacco by minors. What I am wondering is, could this be a doorway to the legalization of Marijuana?


For me, I do not think this would be a bad thing. No, I am not a Pot Head. I do enjoy my dalliances with volatile liquids from time to time though. (Manhattan in particular, in a pitcher of ice) I think we can set a small amount of use of Cannabis to be legal and amounts over the set legal amount to be fined like a traffic ticket. Think of the revenue obtained while enjoying the savings in court costs. The Tax money could be spread from Local to Federal levels. The fines written, you know there would be, could bring in millions across the country.
The following is a quote from an article authored by Stephen J. Dubner on NewYorkTimes.com;
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/pot-quorum/
Two years ago we ran a quorum debating the pros and cons of decriminalizing marijuana. Since then, a largely theoretical debate has moved quite substantially toward the realm of reality, with a growing number of states and municipalities having changed their laws. The details from place to place vary greatly and are very much a patchwork; the most prominent state to make a move is Massachusetts. The California legislature, meanwhile, is wondering whether marijuana could save its economy — which, as we read just this morning, is badly in need of saving.
Although President Obama
doesn’t seem interested, arguments in favor of decriminalization are popping up everywhere, from the Law Enforcement Against Prohibition platform to the senior thesis of a graduating economics major at Brown named Max Chaiken, which finds that “a legally taxed and regulated marijuana market could generate upwards of $200 billion annually in excise tax revenues for the federal government … [which] would be enough to fund Medicaid.”

Mostly every link I did review for this article, talked about the medical issues Marijuana is said to cause. However, Marijuana is being considered for medical purposes as a pain reliever with cancer patients. This seems kind of ironic, huh? I am sure the debate will continue with one state or another. Whether it be California, Massachusetts or such, I believe the issue of Marijuana legalization is down the road and will be coming up sooner rather than later. Hey GOP! Want to make a comeback? Have I got an issue for you!!!

That’s How I See It.

Websites of reference;
http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/marijuana.html
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/marijuana/index.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/marijuana.html
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/pot-quorum/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/
http://www.tobacco.org/
http://www.tobacco.org/History/Tobacco_History.html

1 comment:

  1. "Hey GOP! Want to make a comeback? Have I got an issue for you!!!"

    you're right about that. it's not going to happen any time soon though- from either party. the government's been blowing money on the 'war on drugs' for many years now. and you know them, once they start spending money they never stop.

    ReplyDelete