4 ms·

Seems like the feds are reserving the right to swoop in and put a lot of people in prison for a decade+, perhaps after enough lobbying $$$$ from the privately-r

by genwin 13y ago

Seems like the feds are reserving the right to swoop in and put a lot of people in prison for a decade+, perhaps after enough lobbying $$$$ from the privately-run prison companies. Sickening.

3825 13y ago
The best defense I can think of is to get as many people to engage in this business (buying/selling) and consumption before their stance changes and make it so pervasive (I am thinking hundreds of thousands of people) that they will be forced to pardon everyone.
dclusin 13y ago
Liquor & Tobacco companies probably spend more money lobbying to keep it illegal. Marijuana is a direct competitor to those two products.
- ahallock 13y ago
  Is it really though? Anymore than soda, coffee, etc.? I don't see any evidence that marijuana legalization would affect their sales. In fact, they often go hand-in-hand, from my experiences in college, so maybe legalization would help their sales.
  - sliverstorm 13y ago
    Personally, I figure Phillip Morris will be all over marijuana as soon as it is legal at a federal level. Tobacco is slowly being stomped out by ever more stringent restrictions and regulations, so marijuana could even be the future of their businesses as tobacco slowly sinks into obscurity.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      They already have farms, equipment, and sales/distribution experience too. Sure, there is a lot of difference between the two products, but they would have to be pretty incompetent to be completely unable to leverage their existing assets to dominate the pot market.
    - WalterSear 13y ago
      They purchased 100,000+ acres of Humboldt county in the early nineties. Not sure if the kept it, considering that premium cannibis is now grown indoors.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  People say that a lot, yet I enjoy consuming two or more of those at once... (well, less so tobacco, but I really don't see THC being a replacement for nicotine. If you're into nicotine, you're still going to want nicotine.)
mason240 13y ago
Only about 5% of prisoners in the US are housed in private prisons.
anigbrowl 13y ago
Unlikely, given that the DoJ unveiled a plan to hugely reduce the number of drug prosecutions, avoid mandatory minimum sentences through procedural means etc. What's 'sickening' is you mental picture of what could happen, but there's no great reason to believe it actually will; don't mistake your bias for reality.
- genwin 13y ago
  The same person who ruined the lives of many people who previously believed him when he told them he wouldn't ruin their lives, is now telling us he won't ruin more lives. So I don't think I'm overstating the odds of further ruination here.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    You're not stating the odds at all, but treating your own opinion as fact. However, I don't think nuance is your thing and I'm a well-known pedant, so we're unlikely to reach agreement on this.
    - milkshakes 13y ago
      no, this actually happened. feel free to respond with some evidence to the contrary though. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obamas-war-on-pot-20120216?print=true http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obamas-war-on-pot-...
- D9u 13y ago
  It's not about what "could" happen, it's about what's happening right now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6297999 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6297999

by genwin 13y ago

Seems like the feds are reserving the right to swoop in and put a lot of people in prison for a decade+, perhaps after enough lobbying $$$$ from the privately-run prison companies. Sickening.

3825 13y ago

The best defense I can think of is to get as many people to engage in this business (buying/selling) and consumption before their stance changes and make it so pervasive (I am thinking hundreds of thousands of people) that they will be forced to pardon everyone.

dclusin 13y ago

Liquor & Tobacco companies probably spend more money lobbying to keep it illegal. Marijuana is a direct competitor to those two products.

ahallock 13y ago
Is it really though? Anymore than soda, coffee, etc.? I don't see any evidence that marijuana legalization would affect their sales. In fact, they often go hand-in-hand, from my experiences in college, so maybe legalization would help their sales.
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  Personally, I figure Phillip Morris will be all over marijuana as soon as it is legal at a federal level. Tobacco is slowly being stomped out by ever more stringent restrictions and regulations, so marijuana could even be the future of their businesses as tobacco slowly sinks into obscurity.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    They already have farms, equipment, and sales/distribution experience too. Sure, there is a lot of difference between the two products, but they would have to be pretty incompetent to be completely unable to leverage their existing assets to dominate the pot market.
  - WalterSear 13y ago
    They purchased 100,000+ acres of Humboldt county in the early nineties. Not sure if the kept it, considering that premium cannibis is now grown indoors.
jlgreco 13y ago
People say that a lot, yet I enjoy consuming two or more of those at once... (well, less so tobacco, but I really don't see THC being a replacement for nicotine. If you're into nicotine, you're still going to want nicotine.)

mason240 13y ago

Only about 5% of prisoners in the US are housed in private prisons.

anigbrowl 13y ago

Unlikely, given that the DoJ unveiled a plan to hugely reduce the number of drug prosecutions, avoid mandatory minimum sentences through procedural means etc. What's 'sickening' is you mental picture of what could happen, but there's no great reason to believe it actually will; don't mistake your bias for reality.

genwin 13y ago
The same person who ruined the lives of many people who previously believed him when he told them he wouldn't ruin their lives, is now telling us he won't ruin more lives. So I don't think I'm overstating the odds of further ruination here.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  You're not stating the odds at all, but treating your own opinion as fact. However, I don't think nuance is your thing and I'm a well-known pedant, so we're unlikely to reach agreement on this.
  - milkshakes 13y ago
    no, this actually happened. feel free to respond with some evidence to the contrary though. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obamas-war-on-pot-20120216?print=true http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obamas-war-on-pot-...
D9u 13y ago
It's not about what "could" happen, it's about what's happening right now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6297999 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6297999