6 ms·

I see two interesting things about this story: 1) There's no mention of tourism in that article. Vegas seems like a natural fit for marijuana legalization, as

I see two interesting things about this story: 1) There's no mention of tourism in that article. Vegas seems like a natural fit for marijuana legalization, as a party destination, and while I don't have hard data on this, I do wonder if they are/fear seeing a negative impact on tourism as people seek out more "green friendly" destinations. 2) The utter lack of surprise about this. Another state legalizing/decriminalizing marijuana, ho hum, whatevs. The issue has reached the point where it feels inevitable. That's still a bit shocking for me (in a good way). I don't mean to equate the substance of the issue, but in my mind it feels similar to the march of progress on marriage equality (AKA "gay marriage"). They're both areas where I've long thought our society needed obvious reforms, but as the years marched by, I began to expect not to see any substantive changes in my life. Now I sit here in my 30's, and by the time my daughter is an adult (~15 years), she'll live in a society where (probably/hopefully) most states have some form of marriage equality and marijuana is at least decriminalized. That is amazing to me. P.S. For those who think it trivializes marriage equality to compare it to marijuana legalization, I'll remind you that this issue isn't about making it easier for people to get high. It's about the millions of lives hurt by a drug arrest, over 11,0000,000 arrests for marijuana possession from 1996-2012 – and the unequal enforcement of drug laws. For example, in California, a black person is 10 times more likely to serve prison time for a marijuana arrest than a non-black offender. And across the US, black offenders are 3.7 times more likely than white offenders to be arrested for possession. Even ignoring the unequal enforcement, about 12% of prisoners are serving time due to a marijuana-related offense. So yeah, it's kind of a big deal.

grecy 12y ago
> she'll live in a society where (probably/hopefully) most states have some form of marriage equality and marijuana is at least decriminalized. That is amazing to me. Welcome to the majority of developed countries on the planet now. One day, you might even see universal healthcare!
- Tenhundfeld 12y ago
  A man can dream...
- dfgsdfgs 12y ago
  "Majority" on this issue is high dependent on how you define "developed"
- hippich 12y ago
  What are other countries where you are allowed to possess marijuana for recreational usage? Also, what about other substances, like lsd, psilocybin, or plants like peyote?
  - dkroy 12y ago
    Portugal comes to mind for me, but I am not sure what he means by a majority of developed countries.
  - ojbyrne 12y ago
    I think the key word from his assertion is "decriminalized." Different from "legal."
  - anonbanker 12y ago
    * Czech Republic (Prague is the new Amsterdam) * Uruguay * Portugal
  - hippich 12y ago
    Found this list - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_country As anonbanker noticed, Uruguay is where it is legal. Another one - North Korea. The rest of places are either sorta-legal, or "decriminalized", which often still come with fines or some kind of pressure from the law.
- Igglyboo 12y ago
  The majority of developed countries most definitely do not have decriminalized marijuana.
jgrowl 12y ago
It is strange how fast things can change. I remember thinking 10 years ago that even decriminalization was an impossibility. I am not sure if I am willing to say that legalization is an inevitability yet though.
nsajko 12y ago
How can you call it equality if it still discriminates against the polygamous? :)
- LesZedCB 12y ago
  Take it one battle at a time.
- vezzy-fnord 12y ago
  How can you call it equality if it's a public institution? Same-sex marriage is but a small part in the deceptively named "marriage equality". All people will be doing is playing whack-a-mole for decades (or likely longer) until all non-standard marriage configurations are finally enshrined into law. This is when they could simply privatize it and recognize marriage for what it is - a business/economic contract, and have marriage equality happen now.
  - Yakimoto 12y ago
    Amen! A free thinker, not a party line parrot.
at-fates-hands 12y ago
>>> in California, a black person is 10 times more likely to serve prison time for a marijuana arrest than a non-black offender. And across the US, black offenders are 3.7 times more likely than white offenders to be arrested for possession. While these numbers are prtty shocking, when you look at WHY this is happening, it's pretty obvious why the numbers are so skewed. Generally speaking cops tend to focus on high crime areas, which tend to be where low income, minority residents live. As such, the odds you're going to stop someone who's black and poor who just happens to have some weed on them grows exponentially. Add in other issues like COMSTAT tracking and making police departments more accountable for their the cost of their resources to tax payers. They also have to prove they are indeed lowering crime means they're almost forced to arrest and convict low level offenders to prove they're doing their jobs. This then makes departments institute arrest quotas, and questionable tactics like stop-and-frisk. The last point is also the federal government and their grants they give to high performing departments. If you're department is on the dole for federal money, you think they're going to do anything which would jeopardize that? The very nature of taking federal money makes them do anything to make it look like the tax payers money is doing some good. All of these make the low-income minorities very susceptible to being arrested and then convicted by a system which is very much stacked against them.
- shit_parade 12y ago
  You explanation is not understanding the fact that when a cop stops a white and a black with marijuana it is the black who goes jail. When a black and a white go before a judge with a charge of marijuana possession it is the black who is convicted and given a long prison sentence. What do you call a justice system that catches two people in the same 'illegal' act but only one of has their life ruined? Certainly not just. Depending on the state, it costs over 20,000/yr and sometimes over 40,000 to house each inmate, state's tried to solve this problem by contracting out to private prison complexes, and often they would give the private companies large tax deals and even free or heavily subsidized land. Of course these private companies do what every private company does, took the generous offers from the state and plowed more money into politics to get even more generous offers, better deals, more pay, and more business.

grecy 12y ago

> she'll live in a society where (probably/hopefully) most states have some form of marriage equality and marijuana is at least decriminalized. That is amazing to me. Welcome to the majority of developed countries on the planet now. One day, you might even see universal healthcare!

Tenhundfeld 12y ago
A man can dream...
dfgsdfgs 12y ago
"Majority" on this issue is high dependent on how you define "developed"
hippich 12y ago
What are other countries where you are allowed to possess marijuana for recreational usage? Also, what about other substances, like lsd, psilocybin, or plants like peyote?
- dkroy 12y ago
  Portugal comes to mind for me, but I am not sure what he means by a majority of developed countries.
- ojbyrne 12y ago
  I think the key word from his assertion is "decriminalized." Different from "legal."
- anonbanker 12y ago
  * Czech Republic (Prague is the new Amsterdam) * Uruguay * Portugal
- hippich 12y ago
  Found this list - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_country As anonbanker noticed, Uruguay is where it is legal. Another one - North Korea. The rest of places are either sorta-legal, or "decriminalized", which often still come with fines or some kind of pressure from the law.
Igglyboo 12y ago
The majority of developed countries most definitely do not have decriminalized marijuana.

jgrowl 12y ago

It is strange how fast things can change. I remember thinking 10 years ago that even decriminalization was an impossibility. I am not sure if I am willing to say that legalization is an inevitability yet though.

nsajko 12y ago

How can you call it equality if it still discriminates against the polygamous? :)

LesZedCB 12y ago
Take it one battle at a time.
vezzy-fnord 12y ago
How can you call it equality if it's a public institution? Same-sex marriage is but a small part in the deceptively named "marriage equality". All people will be doing is playing whack-a-mole for decades (or likely longer) until all non-standard marriage configurations are finally enshrined into law. This is when they could simply privatize it and recognize marriage for what it is - a business/economic contract, and have marriage equality happen now.
- Yakimoto 12y ago
  Amen! A free thinker, not a party line parrot.

at-fates-hands 12y ago

>>> in California, a black person is 10 times more likely to serve prison time for a marijuana arrest than a non-black offender. And across the US, black offenders are 3.7 times more likely than white offenders to be arrested for possession. While these numbers are prtty shocking, when you look at WHY this is happening, it's pretty obvious why the numbers are so skewed. Generally speaking cops tend to focus on high crime areas, which tend to be where low income, minority residents live. As such, the odds you're going to stop someone who's black and poor who just happens to have some weed on them grows exponentially. Add in other issues like COMSTAT tracking and making police departments more accountable for their the cost of their resources to tax payers. They also have to prove they are indeed lowering crime means they're almost forced to arrest and convict low level offenders to prove they're doing their jobs. This then makes departments institute arrest quotas, and questionable tactics like stop-and-frisk. The last point is also the federal government and their grants they give to high performing departments. If you're department is on the dole for federal money, you think they're going to do anything which would jeopardize that? The very nature of taking federal money makes them do anything to make it look like the tax payers money is doing some good. All of these make the low-income minorities very susceptible to being arrested and then convicted by a system which is very much stacked against them.

shit_parade 12y ago
You explanation is not understanding the fact that when a cop stops a white and a black with marijuana it is the black who goes jail. When a black and a white go before a judge with a charge of marijuana possession it is the black who is convicted and given a long prison sentence. What do you call a justice system that catches two people in the same 'illegal' act but only one of has their life ruined? Certainly not just. Depending on the state, it costs over 20,000/yr and sometimes over 40,000 to house each inmate, state's tried to solve this problem by contracting out to private prison complexes, and often they would give the private companies large tax deals and even free or heavily subsidized land. Of course these private companies do what every private company does, took the generous offers from the state and plowed more money into politics to get even more generous offers, better deals, more pay, and more business.