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NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

theguardian.com

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Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#31

Post by toyg »

pr0xy wrote: post #12

If they did legalize it, what would happen to the thousands sitting in jail / probation for pot offenses. Oh were sry, it's ok now?

Most of them weren't breaking the law in a fight to change the world, they were doing it opportunistically (consciously placing their own financial wellbeing above social rules). Hence, their punishment technically does not depend on current social rules regarding any object accessory to their crimes.

It's also politically hard enough to make people approve full MJ legalization, without having to fight the ghost of a wide-scale amnesty that would likely threaten deeper social repercussions.

In practice, a sort of low-scale amnesty for smaller infractions would likely have widespread support, even just to clean up personal records.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#32

Post by jlgreco »

bdcravens wrote: post #27

It's important to note that it's not "free the weed, man!" It would be grown by government approved vendors and taxed. Private growing would likely be illegal. Sales by non-government approved vendors would likely be illegal. I'm certain the government would allow allow a single FDA approved variety: you wouldn't see the higher powered varieties or growing techniques. It would more highly regulated than cigarettes or…

Is there actually a drafted proposed law that is available to read at this point? What you are suggesting would be drastically different than Washington or Colorado.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#33

Post by splatcollision »

jlgreco wrote: post #24
rodgerd wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's certainly opimisim. A quick look at the history would suggest there's no particular reason to believe that things always get better.

By any reasonable account, things have been getting better for at least several centuries now. Infant mortality is down, birth rates drop as prosperity increases, advances in farming technology have rendered world hunger a logistics problem, literacy rates are improving and access to education (traditional or otherwise) has never been better. Fewer people are being burned as witches (particularly in developed and dev…

I like the way you think, the cut of your jib, etc. That's how I view open source – as a culmination of millennias-worth of incremental changes and improvements.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#34

Post by jlgreco »

harshreality wrote: post #30
jlgreco wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully, yes. I think that pardons would be in order for those convicted of only pot offenses (carrying an illegal handgun while also dealing would of course not be pardoned) . In reality I expect we would let them continue to rot in jail since they were technically breaking the law at the time.

carrying an illegal handgun while also dealing would of course not be pardoned Why? If dealing pot shouldn't be a crime, why should being prepared to defend yourself with a handgun while dealing pot be a crime? I don't understand the "illegal" qualifier. Isn't it always illegal to carry a handgun when dealing pot? Isn't having a handgun while committing a federal crime also a federal crime? Obviously there are drug d…

Because carrying an illegal/unlicnesed handgun in NYC, with our without also being a drug dealer, is, well, illegal. Maybe that isn't right, but that is the reality of that situation.

If this were Vermont that we were talking about, then the situation would be different.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#35

Post by threeseed »

smewpy wrote: post #23

Yet another datapoint that marijuana vaporizers are a great bet for a hardware startup.

Any basic hardware like this is quickly commoditised by the China manufacturing machine. So no. It isn't a great bet for a hardware startup.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#36

Post by threeseed »

e40 wrote: post #4
newnewnew wrote: post #2

It looks like hacker news is in favor of legalizing marijuana.

Perhaps that's because technical people tend to look at facts when they analyze a situation?

Give us all a break. 'Technical people' are just as (if not more likely) to be biased than ordinary people.

Marijuana is safer than cigarettes and alcohol but it is hardly harmless and we definitely don't know enough about its effect on the brain especially amongst younger users. But of course you will often see such concerns dismissed.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#37

Post by moocowduckquack »

bdcravens wrote: post #27

It's important to note that it's not "free the weed, man!" It would be grown by government approved vendors and taxed. Private growing would likely be illegal. Sales by non-government approved vendors would likely be illegal. I'm certain the government would allow allow a single FDA approved variety: you wouldn't see the higher powered varieties or growing techniques. It would more highly regulated than cigarettes or…

That isn't what has happened with amendment 64 in Colorado. You can grow up to six plants for personal use, no licence required. Funnily enough, the current situation of having legalised personal use without legalising trade is very similar to what was proposed by Hunter S. Thompson when he was running for Sheriff of Aspen.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#38

Post by eli »

bdcravens wrote: post #27

It's important to note that it's not "free the weed, man!" It would be grown by government approved vendors and taxed. Private growing would likely be illegal. Sales by non-government approved vendors would likely be illegal. I'm certain the government would allow allow a single FDA approved variety: you wouldn't see the higher powered varieties or growing techniques. It would more highly regulated than cigarettes or…

Why do you think New York legalizing weed would look drastically different from Colorado or Washington State?

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#39

Post by threeseed »

Zigurd wrote: post #20
jchrisa wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are the years it's most likely to tip certain folks over the precipice into mental illness. A tiny minority are at risk, but those are the years.

There is a whole industry of Drug War sponsored quack science that is no more legit than tobacco company sponsored "science."

There is plenty of objective, non-sponsored research that shows marijuana to have at least in some cases a negative effect. But nice work blanketing all of the research you disagree with as illegitimate.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#40

Post by porsupah »

pr0xy wrote: post #12

If they did legalize it, what would happen to the thousands sitting in jail / probation for pot offenses. Oh were sry, it's ok now?

As a parallel, consider Alan Turing. At the time, he was convicted of an offense. Whether or not this led to his premature demise, we must leave for another thread.

Now, that offense no longer exists. There have been attempts to pardon Alan Turing, as yet unsuccessful.

However, I feel it can be sensibly argued that what truly conveys justice is the retroactive abolishment of the crime - that he would be, tragically posthumously, of an untarnished record.

Ought not such be justly applied in these circumstances also?

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