Mexifornia State Flower - Revisited

[CitaDeL]

Originally Posted by Commander Bunny

Here's a good one:

I heard about this on the local news talk and was going to post it... Its pretty telling that either they were very tired or are so accustomed to this routine that it was perfectly natural to toss their goods in back of a truck when they were ready.

[Ayatollahgondola]

Originally Posted by CitaDeL

I heard about this on the local news talk and was going to post it... Its pretty telling that either they were very tired or are so accustomed to this routine that it was perfectly natural to toss their goods in back of a truck when they were ready.

Or they are used to people in government being in on crime

[ilbegone]

Local rules hazy for pot measure

James Rufus Koren
09/18/2010

Carry it, grow it, but don't expect to buy it.

A Nov. 2 ballot measure could legalize marijuana in California, but even if it passes, Inland Empire residents likely won't to be able to buy a dime bag at their local 7-11.

Proposition 19, if passed, would make it legal for any California age 21 or older to grow marijuana and carry up to one ounce of it. It would also allow local jurisdictions to regulate and tax the sale of pot. Local leaders say that won't happen.

"It's not anything we want for our community," said Redlands Mayor Pat Gilbreath. "I know that would never happen in my community if I had anything to say about it."

While Prop. 19 supporters say permitting and taxing marijuana sales would be an income source for cash-strapped cities and counties, local leaders say the disagreement between state and federal marijuana laws, the costs of regulating marijuana sales and their personal beliefs that marijuana is bad for communities are all reasons not to allow pot to be bought and sold locally.

"Why would I put this whole mechanism in place to regulate marijuana sales when I'm not going to get anything from it?" said Fontana Mayor Frank Scialdone. "We're going to have to put in resources to monitor this. Where are those resources going to come from?"

Claremont Mayor Linda Elderkin said local governments have been walking on egg shells for years as they try to stay in line with federal law - which says marijuana is illegal for everyone - and state law - which says its OK for people with a prescription. That won't change if California law opens up marijuana for recreational users.

"On medical marijuana, cities have found themselves squarely between the state and federal governments, and (Prop. 19) is likely to have the same impact on us," Elderkin said. "If it passes, all cities will have to be looking at how to negotiate the deep waters of conflict between state and federal law."

But beyond their hesitance to allow pot to be bought and sold - something Prop. 19 allows but does not demand - some local leaders are against the notion of letting people carry marijuana and grow it locally - something Prop. 19 would make mandatory.

"If they have it in their backyard, I'm not sure we can zone that out," Gilbreath said. "But I'd certainly like to try to find a way to do it."

That, says Prop. 19 supporter Lanny Swerdlow, medical director of a medical marijuana clinic in Riverside, is dangerous talk that hearkens back to the ongoing fight between local governments and medical marijuana advocates.

"There's no doubt in my mind that if Prop. 19 passes, law enforcement is going to be as ferocious and tenacious in opposing it as they have been in opposing Prop. 215," Swerdlow said, referring to the 1996 ballot measure that legalized medical marijuana. "If the mayor is saying she will work to undermine to vote of the people of California, I think people should have a problem with that."

Though Prop. 215 has been on the books for 14 years, medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives are banned in San Bernardino, Fontana, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Redlands and other local cities.

Swerdlow said medical marijuana advocates weren't well-organized after Prop. 215 passed, allowing local governments to freely set up rules that have become the subject of a protracted legal battle.

This time, he said, that won't be the case.

"With 215 we did nothing," he said. "With 19, we've learned from our mistakes. ... We're going to take the offensive and see to it that it's enforced."

And despite local leaders' stance, Swerdlow said he thinks many local cities will allow marijuana to be produced and sold if Prop. 19 passes.

"If Los Angeles allows it, within a few weeks, (local leaders) will notice the tens of thousands of residents going to L.A. to buy marijuana legally," he said. "They'll be spending millions and the county of San Bernardino won't be making a dime. ... I don't think they'll let that money go simply because they're as pure as the driven snow."

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_16111292

[ilbegone]

Madera County pot bust nets illegals

Sep. 17, 2010
By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee

Three men that Madera County Sheriff John Anderson says have ties to drug-trafficking organizations were arrested Thursday near Chowchilla on charges of possessing firearms. Also, the 175 marijuana plants they were tending were seized.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart said the three had medical marijuana cards but they are undocumented aliens. The sheriff said undocumented aliens are not allowed to possess firearms. Stuart said they would be sent back to Mexico.

Stuart also said the department seized the plants because once the suspects were in custody, there was no one on the property with medical permission to grow the plants.

"That play bought each of them a one-way pass back to Mexico," Anderson said.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/09/17/...-illegals.html

[Patriotic Army Mom]

I won't vote yes! It's funny while this discussion continues 13 and 14 year old kids think that this is the only way to go and they begin to toke their way into dumb down! Lately, it's created some problems and I'm fighting mad! It's the gateway to other stuff, and not wanting to bury another family member or friend to any of this stuff, gets a no vote from me.

[ilbegone]

I know people who have had tragedies within their families with drugs, and alcohol as well.

Some decades ago there were a few years I was perpetually stoned out of my gourd, I believe there were quite a few circumstances which would have been much better if that had not been the case.

However, I believe the real scourge is meth. I snorted it just once, and never again. Because I LIKED IT and I've seen people get all sucked up, lose their teeth, age extremely fast, and live in that demented tweeker parallel dimension. No one can be so busy and not accomplish a single thing like a tweeker, and I don't believe that even heroin can turn out such a batch of prolific liars and thieves.

What really is "gateway", would that include coffee? The sugar in commercial snacks? Where is that line really drawn?

My thought is that those who are inclined are going to obtain it, as occurred with alcohol over thirteen officially dry years. It is also a blood soaked product just as booze was during prohibition. And no amount of education, no amount of "Reefer Madness" screenings are going to diminish the demand.

I'm not sure that either proposition 19 or unfettered legalization is the answer. However, I do know that illegal trade has created created wealthy, bloody handed thugs who originated from poverty stricken obscurity.

They need to be broken by taking the profitability out of the marijuana trade, and continued illegality of marijuana will do nothing but finance them and ramp up the body count.

[Patriotic Army Mom]

I agree meth is bad. I also know that some of them don't have their teeth fall out. Thiefs and drugs somehow go together. Although drunks go that way. It all keeps the cemeteries busy and in business.