mj is transported across states lines and it's a FEDERAL Schedule I controlled substance, so it's a federal/ICC jurisdiction.
Agreed. It should be a states rights issue, and I'd be encouraging my state to quit wasting the taxpayers money trying to lock up stoners.
mj is transported across states lines and it's a FEDERAL Schedule I controlled substance, so it's a federal/ICC jurisdiction.
Of course they would get it cheaper. Whats your logic around a cheap drug that anyone could cultivate being expensive?
Well, Manny, cheap and illegal vs. expensive and legal?
Many marijuana users will not violate the law for weed but, they will pay exorbitant prices for drugs.
The problem with cultivating is that it's practically an automatic felony if you get busted. They weigh roots, stems, leaves etc. which puts you immediately into the "dealer" quan y according to the law.
I did not read the link, but Michigan also passed a Medical Marijuana law some years back.
Dispensaries are being shutdown but the "caregivers" are not.
You can still use marijuana, you can still possess it (with a card of course), you can still procure it from your caregiver for money.
What the state and Federal law is doing, here, is shutting down dispensaries.
Not that I care for the technicality, should be legal, but just a little perspective on it.
I have no idea why you think all legal pot would be expensive. Its not currently.
Not really. This isn't about the commerce clause. This is about federal drug enforcement laws trumping state laws. Exactly what happens with Immigration enforcement.
If Big Pharma owned the rights to be the sole distributor, do you think it would remain cheap?
That was the point.
Well now you just added a whole new variable. Unless they can find a way to patent Pot, why would they be the sole distribute? The very fact that they could not be the sole distributor and thus enjoy a huge profit margin is at the very core of why they fight legalization.
Moonshining is still illegal yet, Distillers can sell distilled spirits.
Marijuana could remain illegal while Big Pharma figured out a way to legalize it for medicinal uses.
Why is yoni so hot for big pharma?
WTF? ATF says medical mj users can't buy guns?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...-gun-sale-ban/
DENVER — You can have your gun, or you can have your medical marijuana. But the Obama administration now says you can’t have both.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is in the crosshairs for a recent memo prohibiting gun merchants from selling firearms to anyone who uses marijuana, including those with state-issued medical-marijuana cards.
An open letter dated Sept. 21 from Arthur Herbert, ATF assistant director for Enforcement Programs and Services, said that, “any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her State has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, and is prohibited by Federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition.”
That didn’t sit well with Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock, who fired off a letter this week to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. saying that the policy raises “serious legal issues under the Second Amendment, and the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fifth Amendment.”
The conflict illustrates the contradictory state of affairs between the states and federal government on the subject of medical marijuana. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have passed medical-marijuana laws, a situation the Justice Department has agreed to tolerate despite continuing to enforce federal laws banning marijuana use.
Where the agency draws the line is often a source of confusion. The Sept. 21 letter was issued in response to gun sellers who asked the agency for guidance because buyers were showing them medical-marijuana cards as identification.
Mr. Bullock blasted the ATF for failing to consult with state officials before issuing the directive, saying a cooperative approach “would be much better than the type of unilateral proclamation represented by the ATF letter.”
Critics contend that the law unfairly discriminates against marijuana users because patients who take other controlled substances, such as OxyContin, have no such restrictions. In his letter, Mr. Bullock pointed out federal law allows those who are prescribed controlled substances by a physician to possess or buy firearms and ammunition.
“The ATF letter does not take this into account,” said Mr. Bullock, who called on the department to work with the states in “exploring a reasonable solution to the problems created by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives letter.”
Mr. Herbert states in his letter that marijuana, as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, cannot be prescribed under federal law, “even if such use is sanctioned by state law.”
The policy puts gun dealers in a difficult position, say critics.
Potential gun buyers must state on an ATF form whether they use marijuana at the time of sale. If they answer “yes,” they are denied the purchase, but even if they answer “no,” the seller cannot complete the sale if there is “‘reasonable cause to believe’ that the person is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance,” according to the directive.
“The dealers have no way of knowing whether someone smokes pot unless they come in toking,” said Gun Owners of America executive director Larry Pratt. “It’s just one more way to aggravate the dealers and play ‘gotcha’ with the dealers. They [the ATF] are totally out of control.”
In an editorial this week, the Denver Post blasted the directive, calling it an “assault on cons utional rights.” Colorado voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000.
“[U]sers of medical marijuana are faced with two choices: pass on gun ownership or illegally lie about their use of marijuana,” the Post said. “Unbelievable.”
lol addicted to marijuana
Um, think about the example you just used. Liquor isn't exactly an expensive commodity.
Why is that? How many distillers are there?
@ that quick goalposts move...
I'm pretty sure if Big Pharma monopolized the legal distribution of marijuana, it would be expensive.
I really don't know why we're beating this dead horse. I was merely suggesting part of Big Pharma's opposition to medical marijuana was that they could position it to exploit a monopoly on the drug.
But, fine, have it your way, business would never do that.
Right.
Was liquor more or less expensive during Prohibition?
Did violent outlaws profit from liquor during Prohibition? Did they continue to profit at the same rate from liquor after the end of Prohibition?
What makes you think they could?
Ir's precisely because they can't establish a monopoly on marijuana that they oppose its legalization.I really don't know why we're beating this dead horse. I was merely suggesting part of Big Pharma's opposition to medical marijuana was that they could position it to exploit a monopoly on the drug.
But, fine, have it your way, business would never do that.
Weed is not cheap!
Having been to dispensaries around WA State & having access to price lists from all over. Prices depend on quality of the bud too.
Typical prices
Lower grade $10 per gram
Mid grade - $12
High grade - $15
So it's like $250 - $360 an ounce.
When I lived in SA I used to buy ounces for $50-$70. But the quality is nowhere what I can get now. 1 hit & your very well stoned.
Well yeah - but there's no basis for them to have a monopoly while these IS a basis for them to keep it illegal.
Check out prices for Copaxone, patented, multiple-sclerosis drug (not even close to the most expensive, but treats something mj would be used for).
Never mind.
When I moved to California I found the chronic and Humboldt County to be far superior than the crap from Mexico that we had in SA, so I can understand the price difference. The Pacific NW climate is perfect for growing really potent .
Growers don't particularly want it legal, either. I knew several when I lived in Humboldt who were quite happy to keep it illegal and expensive. Find a big patch of land surrounded/sheltered by huge trees, buy some camo netting, hire a couple rednecks to walk around with shotguns, and you're realistically looking at a little more risk for a LOT more profit.
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