4 ms·

Some states do have laws that explicitly allow and/or regular marijuana for medicinal or recreational use. For example, I live in Colorado where a constitution

by Osiris 11y ago

Some states do have laws that explicitly allow and/or regular marijuana for medicinal or recreational use. For example, I live in Colorado where a constitutional amendment was passed that required law makers to pass laws to setup regulations for the production, wholesale, and retail sale of the drug. The part about the federal law is still true but as far as I know, law enforcement in Colorado is not required nor can be forced to enforce federal law.

mschuster91 11y ago
> The part about the federal law is still true but as far as I know, law enforcement in Colorado is not required nor can be forced to enforce federal law. But the FBI can very well decide to prosecute federal crimes in states, even if the "crime" is legal under state law.
- jsprogrammer 11y ago
  And a jury can decide that no crime was committed.
  - pyre 11y ago
    But this would have to be jury nullification because legally a crime was committed.
  - mschuster91 11y ago
    For this there needs to be a jury trial, which is unlikely to happen if police / DA pushes for a plea bargain...
    - eru 11y ago
      Can't you always refuse the plea bargain?
  - nommm-nommm 11y ago
    The vast majority of cases do not go to trial.
- anonbanker 11y ago
  And you can settle the charges civilly (allowable under United States Code), plead guilty, and get a discharge (no criminal record or time served). We have a Pay-To-Play legal system. Vince Neil of Motley Crue killed a guy with his car, paid a fine, pled guilty, and served two days of jail total. He's just one example.
  - eru 11y ago
    Is killing someone with your car even a crime? (https://www.vice.com/read/you-can-kill-anyone-you-want-with-your-car-as-long-as-you-dont-really-mean-it https://www.vice.com/read/you-can-kill-anyone-you-want-with-... and http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/is-it-ok-to-kill-cyclists.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/is-it-ok-to...)
    - anonbanker 11y ago
      Vehicular Manslaughter is a crime in many jurisdictions. However, it's easily dischargeable. This is conjecture, but I wouldn't be surprised if many of those cases were settled privately.

by Osiris 11y ago

mschuster91 11y ago

> The part about the federal law is still true but as far as I know, law enforcement in Colorado is not required nor can be forced to enforce federal law. But the FBI can very well decide to prosecute federal crimes in states, even if the "crime" is legal under state law.

jsprogrammer 11y ago
And a jury can decide that no crime was committed.
- pyre 11y ago
  But this would have to be jury nullification because legally a crime was committed.
- mschuster91 11y ago
  For this there needs to be a jury trial, which is unlikely to happen if police / DA pushes for a plea bargain...
  - eru 11y ago
    Can't you always refuse the plea bargain?
- nommm-nommm 11y ago
  The vast majority of cases do not go to trial.
anonbanker 11y ago
And you can settle the charges civilly (allowable under United States Code), plead guilty, and get a discharge (no criminal record or time served). We have a Pay-To-Play legal system. Vince Neil of Motley Crue killed a guy with his car, paid a fine, pled guilty, and served two days of jail total. He's just one example.
- eru 11y ago
  Is killing someone with your car even a crime? (https://www.vice.com/read/you-can-kill-anyone-you-want-with-your-car-as-long-as-you-dont-really-mean-it https://www.vice.com/read/you-can-kill-anyone-you-want-with-... and http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/is-it-ok-to-kill-cyclists.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/is-it-ok-to...)
  - anonbanker 11y ago
    Vehicular Manslaughter is a crime in many jurisdictions. However, it's easily dischargeable. This is conjecture, but I wouldn't be surprised if many of those cases were settled privately.