My state might legalize pot.
 

We have a measure on the ballot here in Oregon to legalize pot and sell it like alcohol. It appears the polls are almost dead even with it so it actually has a chance of passing.

If it passes I wonder how the feds will respond.

Probably not too well.

I honestly do not see what the problem is. We sell cigarettes and we sell booze, and both of them are much worse. And I am so not a pot smoker!

They'll probably respond the same way they are in California. Say they're not going to bust anyone, then do the exact opposite. They've shut down a ton of them around here.

I feel the same way. I have smoked weed a handful of times in the past, odds are I will do it again sometime in the future, but even if it were legal I wouldn't do it more then once every 4-5 years. Still, I think it should be legal and regulated. I was reading the ballot info and they were saying my state spends $61.5 million dollars per year enforcing pot laws. If legalized it would mean about $140 million in new revenue for the state so it would be a +$200 million dollar swing for the state.

I would imagine if it is passes there will immediately be court challenges from the feds and it wouldn't shock me if they lose those challenges that they threaten to bust anyone who starts a commercial grow operation.

they will wait until a few have a million in the bank and go in and bust them,

I hope it passes. We need to legalize it already..

War on drugs = epic failure

I totally agree and I do not smoke pot.

The DEA will still be a problem. Obama administration decided not to get involved with states that approved it for medicinal use but when dispenseries popped up on every corner and everybody got a license he felt the need to act in states that let that happen (i.e., California). It really became no different than all the pill mills they cracked down on in Florida.

Of course he just came out in support of gay marriage and the DNC is getting behind it as well so maybe things will change on the marijuana front.

It violates Federal law, so just watch what happens elsewhere.

pot dispensaries = sitting ducks

Agreed. Doesnt seem to matter what the people vote for in a state- the Feds will swoop in and say Fed law trumps State law.

We rented part of our building in San Diego to a dispensary (convenient, yes), they put in 100s of thousands of $$$ for improvements, then Feds sent out the letters to the State Atty Generals to crack down.

Within weeks 95 % of the dispensaries are gone in SD.

Plenty of people out of jobs, no tax revs for a city that needs it, pretty fucked up given that the issue was voted on and passed by the state.

1 theory is that the pharma lobbyists bought off the administration.

Less weed =more pills

I agree booze is worse (for some), what I guess bothers me is the 'we can make money out of it' train of thought. Why not just concoct more drugs, get fuckloads of people on those, and have even more more money. I mean, it's already being done with anti-depressants, sleeping pills, and whatever else, and it's all a money grab with a 'so fucking what' to the millions who end up addicted. Slippery slope imo to go down the revenue generation side of it.