Conflicting marijuana laws take stage in trial

Put the guy in jail!

Decriminalize it and be done with it! The feds should make personal possesion of 1/2 ounce legal as well as letting marijuana be used for medical purposes!! This would free up alot of room in our court system and our jails!

Ja mon!

550,000 people die directly every year as a result of alcohol and tobacco use (accidents, lung cancer, liver cancer, etc.)

ZERO people die from marijuana alone. ZERO. Where's the logic here?

Legalize It Already!

Lies, lies, lies. What we're not being told is that only 4 people are responsible for marijuana being illegal--Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and McCain. The motive is simple--they believe if Americans were high, they would vote for Obama. We need to impeach these 4 Texans as soon as possible so we can all get high and vote for Obama.

As a juror, I would have a lot of trouble putting anyone in jail for selling marjuana when PROZAC is freely prescribed for everything from depression to over-eatingsold, to children as young as 9, although there is no evidence of its efficacy in the treatment of anything in people of any age.

Re children - no tests on Prozac support its use on children. You know why? It is against federal law to test drugs on children. But fine to prescribe them to children.

Jail?? Give him the chair!!!!

This stupid federal law must end! States should have the right to regulate these matters, especially for a drug like marijuana. If states can regulate granting liquor licenses, and settib age limits, then the people of those states should have equal say in the regulation of medical marijuana.

Another huge cost to the taxpayers as a result of the failed 'war on drugs'....

I'd like to know where the marijuana comes from. Is he growing it himself, or is he buying it from the same murderous druglords and gangbangers as everyone else? With the amount of weed that he is selling, I doubt that he is growing it himself. This to me is the problem with legalizing marijuana. It is more likely that marijuana would be decriminalized, rather than legalized, meaning that you couldn't get busted for having small amounts of it, but it would still be illegal to sell it and certainly to move it across borders. People are killed everyday here in Chicago because of the drug business, and decriminalizing personal marijuana use would only make it worse. I think it should be all or nothing. Either completely legalize it, so that it can be grown here in the U.S., sold here, and used here legally; or completely illegal.

Dan From Guthrie wrote:

Decriminalize it and be done with it! The feds should make personal possesion of 1/2 ounce legal as well as letting marijuana be used for medical purposes!! This would free up alot of room in our court system and our jails!

ya reckon its the revenues they get?

The enxt time our government cheers on "FREEDOM" ... remember that they're locking people away for decades for smoking a plant!

Unlike any other "drug", cannabis isn't processed, it's used in it's raw form.

Hasn't killed a soul... isn't habit-forming (I know because I'm a regular user and can go "cold turkey" without any problems for weeks at a time!)

Screw medical... legalize it for everyone (over 18)

Dave

And the likes of Rush Limbuagh can slam back all the "legal drugs" he wants (even write his own prescriptions) without the feds even raising an eyebrow. The federal drug policy is so much donkey hooha.

I am aware of a Drug Store in Michigan that took cigarettes off their shelves because they are bad for ones health... however they sure didn't give up their liqour license. Double standards I guess. Anyway, they definitely haven't given up their pot smoking.

The Bush administration has specifically targeted pot dealers for arrest and prosecution over those who sell crack, cocaine and meth. One theory is that busting pot smokers and dealers is payback for the Culture War by conservatives like Rove and Bush, who came of age during the 60s and horrified by the hippy mores.

Thanks to the Bush adm, mostly harmless potheads now represent the majority of people busted and jailed for dealing each year.

ok, first of all - Clarance and Steve M, you should go to jail for saying such dumb things. And Inhaler - you should stop smoking long enough to know that pot was made illegal long before Bush and his cronies took over. 1930's Harry Anslinger is your culprit. And the DEA has been waging a very successful (for the governments coffers) war on drugs ever since.

Brian, clearly you're afraid of weed. One non-murderous, non-drug lord person can grow enough weed for quite a few people. It is entirely possible that the guy in the story either grows it himself or subcontracts the labor (to non murderous, green thumb types). Please remember that Cannabis is a plant growing naturally for 13 weeks. It is not a quickly manufactured synthetic substance. Murderous drug lord types generally stick with the highly addictive cocaine, crack, and heroin as it takes less time and space to manufacture.

Finally, as others have pointed out - weed is harmless compared to what's already legal. To persecute those who indulge, is what makes America hypocritical and unworthy of respect. This is the United States of America, let the states decide certain things as our forefathers intended. The only reason weed continues to be illegal is the same reason oil continues to be promoted - too many at the top are making too much money, and they have successfully hoodwinked the public to believe what they are doing is right.

Decriminalize Cannabis!

Just legalize it already. It is an embarrassment to the United States, that we spend all this money to prosecute someone like this.

I'll feel a lot safer once this guy's off the streets!

Dan From Guthrie wrote:

Decriminalize it and be done with it! The feds should make personal possesion of 1/2 ounce legal as well as letting marijuana be used for medical purposes!! This would free up alot of room in our court system and our jails!

Then people will still have to buy it from criminals and sales will still finance a black market. This guy would still be in trouble and public resources would still be wasted prosecuting him.

So how about the feds completely end this disastrous policy and let states decide for themselves whether to maintain a wasteful war on marijuana.

Clarification to the above comment (which probably wasn't very clear): If it is only legal (1) to use marijuana for medical purposes or (2) to possess up to 1/2 an ounce for whatever purpose, then who could legally sell it?

a message to my fellow "recreational cannabis utilizers":
make the investment in a vaporizer. it:
-- reduces carcinogens to 3%(it doesn't cause combustion)
-- by not burning your plant, it DOUBLES it's potency
-- every hit tastes like a "greenie"
for ease of use, get a Volcano!

("I've argued in front of many judges... one time as a lawyer!")