WOW! Shocking new poll results from the Sooner Poll (reputable Oklahoma pollster) on Oklahomans' opinion on medical marijuana and decriminalization. Folks, there's a broad majority of Oklahoma registered voters who now favor medical pot. More details included in this Observer article. Someone needs to call the Republican Party nitwits at the Legislature and ask them to quit blocking Constance Johnson's bills. This seems like a great opportunity for an initiative petition.

New Poll: Sooners Embrace Medical Marijuana | Oklahoma Observer (http://www.okobserver.net/2013/09/18/new-poll-sooners-embrace-medical-marijuana/)

It is kinda shocking to see that (saw the story a couple days ago somewhere else). I think the state GOP knows some of these social issues have swung completely in the other direction so they are going to keep doing what they must to block it. About the only way to get it on the ballot is through initiative. I'm all for being fiscally conservative, but the socially closed minded approach needs to end. We need to watch Colorado closely and see how they set everything up. I wouldn't be shocked if the Fed at some point in the near future decriminalizes possession of marijuana under a certain amount. Still regulate the hell out of it so only approved distributors and growers exist, but relax the rest. If someone can go to a smoke shop to get it for a reasonable price versus a back alley, then the illegal groups growing it are going to see their profits tank.

I hope you all don't think that if pot were legalized in OK, that it would somehow be a panacea to help end drug problems and be cause for a huge boom in tax collections.

As I am sure you all know, pot is now legal in CO where I live. The new reality was supposed to save the state millions in incarceration costs and wasteful arrests.

In a classic give and inch, take a mile fashion, Colorado Pot - which is supposedly "highly regulated and closely overseen," is suddenly showing up in pot busts in other states. Not only that, but when pot and creative new ways of selling it or it's derivatives is perfectly legal, we're now being inundated by a synthetic pot called "Spice." It seems the drug culture in Colorado just can't be satisfied and someone is exporting what is supposed to be sold only here.

I hope you all don't think that if pot were legalized in OK, that it would somehow be a panacea to help end drug problems and be cause for a huge boom in tax collections.

As I am sure you all know, pot is now legal in CO where I live. The new reality was supposed to save the state millions in incarceration costs and wasteful arrests.


In a classic give and inch, take a mile fashion, Colorado Pot - which is supposedly "highly regulated and closely overseen," is suddenly showing up in pot busts in other states. Not only that, but when pot and creative new ways of selling it or it's derivatives is perfectly legal, we're now being inundated by a synthetic pot called "Spice." It seems the drug culture in Colorado just can't be satisfied and someone is exporting what is supposed to be sold only here.

So, what are the chances of an Okie purchasing pot in Colorado and returning to OKC without incident? I mean, would he/she/them/it be any greater arrest risk than someone who bought a lid in Arkansas? I've read about people returning through the OK panhandle getting busted. Suppose your average pothead would be better off losing oneself on I-70? Just wondering.

So, what are the chances of an Okie purchasing pot in Colorado and returning to OKC without incident? I mean, would he/she/them/it be any greater arrest risk than someone who bought a lid in Arkansas? I've read about people returning through the OK panhandle getting busted. Suppose your average pothead would be better off losing oneself on I-70? Just wondering.

If Oklahomans want to smoke Colorado pot, they are best off spending the night/weekend in Colorado and smoking it there. I am sure police are all over the border trying to catch people. You are probably far more likely to get away with buying it illegally here than bringing it into Oklahoma from Colorado.

Just to clarify, when I mean Colorado pot is showing up in busts in other states, I'm not referring to the goob who buys an ounce in Denver and has it in his center console when he gets that speeding ticket in the panhandle. I mean the pot that is only to be sold in Colorado legally is showing up in multiple bundled packages in other states because the growers are exporting it.

If Oklahomans want to smoke Colorado pot, they are best off spending the night/weekend in Colorado and smoking it there. I am sure police are all over the border trying to catch people. You are probably far more likely to get away with buying it illegally here than bringing it into Oklahoma from Colorado.

Especially if you drive into Guymon and the inside of your car is a big white cloud on the inside. Might attract some attention.

It really wouldn't surprise me if they set up checkpoints when crossing the border from Colorado into Oklahoma and other neighboring states to search your car for marijuana, much like the California borders have (or used to) a checkpoint where they made sure you didn't have any regulated fruits or vegetables. It would surprise me if something like that was proposed by the state GOP once legal marijuana stores start going online in Colorado.

Just to clarify, when I mean Colorado pot is showing up in busts in other states, I'm not referring to the goob who buys an ounce in Denver and has it in his center console when he gets that speeding ticket in the panhandle. I mean the pot that is only to be sold in Colorado legally is showing up in multiple bundled packages in other states because the growers are exporting it.
I doubt that it is coming from "legal growers", most of those plants are allocated and the medical shops probably take all they can legally get. More than likely it is coming from the same sources that it did before legalization but there may be more illegal growers here because they feel like they may not face as much scrutiny as they might in other states. Just because people with Colorado residency are getting busted for it out of state doesn't mean they are or where legal growers. It is probably also some misinformation by law enforcement/media in other states looking for someone to blame it on, right now Colorado is more convenient than Mexico for that blame.

Crap, but thanks anyway. Hypothetical peeps aren't Cheech&Chong types, careful to not smell up the car, have dysfunctinal turn signals, rear lights, etc. I figured I-70 would be the way to go, after switching rental cars a time or two. Earlier today I told my SO, you'd be better of buying "recreational grade" locally, the old fashioned way!

I doubt that it is coming from "legal growers", most of those plants are allocated and the medical shops probably take all they can legally get. More than likely it is coming from the same sources that it did before legalization but there may be more illegal growers here because they feel like they may not face as much scrutiny as they might in other states. Just because people with Colorado residency are getting busted for it out of state doesn't mean they are or where legal growers. It is probably also some misinformation by law enforcement/media in other states looking for someone to blame it on, right now Colorado is more convenient than Mexico for that blame.

I know you are also here in Denver. The local TV stations have done stories that busts as far away as GA and PA had the DNA of Colorado pot grown in certain warehouses here in Denver. THis has been quite a while back like in early summer that it was reported.

I remember some illegal growers who were busted earlier this year up in Adams County, I think the perception among some is that it is all legal here when that is far from the truth.

I doubt that it is coming from "legal growers", most of those plants are allocated and the medical shops probably take all they can legally get. More than likely it is coming from the same sources that it did before legalization but there may be more illegal growers here because they feel like they may not face as much scrutiny as they might in other states. Just because people with Colorado residency are getting busted for it out of state doesn't mean they are or where legal growers. It is probably also some misinformation by law enforcement/media in other states looking for someone to blame it on, right now Colorado is more convenient than Mexico for that blame.

It's a freaking plant that people enjoy smoking to feel good. It blows my mind how much a freaking plant has been demonized by law enforcement -- a plant with known medical benefits.

In a classic give and inch, take a mile fashion, Colorado Pot - which is supposedly "highly regulated and closely overseen," is suddenly showing up in pot busts in other states. Not only that, but when pot and creative new ways of selling it or it's derivatives is perfectly legal, we're now being inundated by a synthetic pot called "Spice." It seems the drug culture in Colorado just can't be satisfied and someone is exporting what is supposed to be sold only here.

How is colorado pot showing up in other states a Colorado problem? Besides, it's not like there isn't drug cartel pot already prevalent everywhere.
And I'd like to see some links to this synthetic pot/spice issue. Find it strange that people would smoke synthetic pot in a state where real pot is legal. Okla has had a few synthetic pot tragedies but I assumed it was because it was "legal" and they could buy it at a gas station. Not sure why anyone would smoke a proven deadly synthetic drug when the safer, natural pot is already legal.

I'd no more travel the panhandle with an illegal substance than I'd crack open a jar of moonshine while parked next to a cop and toast him. Panhandle leos have their act together, and have for many years. As I understand it, it began some time back when it was recognized that some 'transport specialists' were avoiding I-40/I-44 by cutting north along Hwy 54 to cut north. There is money to be made in active enforcement, and they do it well from my understanding.

I would also like to see growing of hemp legalized so proponents can be made to prove the wildly impressive things they claim that hemp can do for society, the economy and environment. I believe they are quite hyper inflated and unrealistic, but please be allowed the freedom to prove me wrong.

Well I would like to see you change your user name here to Blunty.

Glad to see the Edmond Sun reporting this!

'First clear majority supports legalizing marijuana
By Josh Voorhees
Slate

SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time since Gallup began asking the question more than four decades ago, a clear majority of Americans now say they support the legalization of pot.

There was a small blip back in 2011 when there was 50-46 pro-pot split, although that plurality was within the poll's margin of error. The poll's first-time majority is noteworthy enough, but the topline takeaway may actually be the fact that support for legalization climbed a full 10 points from last year to 58 percent, the largest year-to-year jump in the poll's history'

- See more at: First clear majority supports legalizing marijuana » Local News » The Edmond Sun (http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x134987001/First-clear-majority-supports-legalizing-marijuana#sthash.bIdz6P1a.dpuf)

Glad to see the Edmond Sun reporting this!

'First clear majority supports legalizing marijuana
By Josh Voorhees
Slate

SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time since Gallup began asking the question more than four decades ago, a clear majority of Americans now say they support the legalization of pot.

There was a small blip back in 2011 when there was 50-46 pro-pot split, although that plurality was within the poll's margin of error. The poll's first-time majority is noteworthy enough, but the topline takeaway may actually be the fact that support for legalization climbed a full 10 points from last year to 58 percent, the largest year-to-year jump in the poll's history'

- See more at: First clear majority supports legalizing marijuana » Local News » The Edmond Sun (http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x134987001/First-clear-majority-supports-legalizing-marijuana#sthash.bIdz6P1a.dpuf)

This is a pretty big deal. Don't forget, even Okies are supportive given the results of a recent poll. I think we will see legal weed across the country within the next ten years. Hopefully by the time I'm retired it will be legal -- as while I don't smoke it now, sparking up a joint every now and again would be a good fit for the retired lifestyle.

Besides it being about Colorado and Washington, more and more people, in my opinion, are finding out and becoming disgusted about the conflict behind marijuana prohibition, especially at the federal level. The Drug Enforcement Administration says marijuana has no medical value, while another branch of government has applied for and got a patent for medical marijuana. The Feds send out free of charge 300 joints in a tin can every month to each of four privileged medical marijuana patients and then the DEA turns around and wants to send some people in Montana to prison for many decades over marijuana charges. In a supposedly free and civilized nation, all this just isn't right. No wonder only 16.8% of Oklahomans in a recent poll thought the Feds, rather than the state, should determine the legality of marijuana.

The way that racism played a roll in deciding to ban marijuana is yet another disgusting aspect.

This is a pretty big deal. Don't forget, even Okies are supportive given the results of a recent poll. I think we will see legal weed across the country within the next ten years. Hopefully by the time I'm retired it will be legal -- as while I don't smoke it now, sparking up a joint every now and again would be a good fit for the retired lifestyle.

I support legal marijuana, but I have doubts it will come to Oklahoma any time soon. Arkansas couldn't even pass medical marijuana and they are slightly more liberal than Oklahoma. Hopefully the federal ban will be repealed and as it becomes a state issue, more and more states will legalize it. Given that 80 years after Prohibition we still have dry counties in some states and states like Oklahoma that severely limit alcohol, I think we are decades away from marijuana being available in all 50 states. You may not have to drive that for from states like Oklahoma to get it though as more states legalize it. If Texas legalizes it, I wonder what Oklahoma's response would be.

Any more states would be foolish to pass legalized pot until the experimental states such as CO can figure out how to work out the many, many problems they have come across.

Unfortunately, tho pot is legalized now in CO, sellers here are working hard to figure out how to increase potency and derive new synthesized types of THC products with multiple times the effect of natural pot. Apparently, its not enough to have legalized pot. Give an inch.............

Any more states would be foolish to pass legalized pot until the experimental states such as CO can figure out how to work out the many, many problems they have come across.

Unfortunately, tho pot is legalized now in CO, sellers here are working hard to figure out how to increase potency and derive new synthesized types of THC products with multiple times the effect of natural pot. Apparently, its not enough to have legalized pot. Give an inch.............

Synthetic cannabis is nothing new. It was all the rage a few years ago as a legal alternative to smoking the real thing. I am not sure if any forms of it are still legal in Oklahoma but many of them were supposed to be several times the effect of natural THC. I don't know why anybody would want the synthetics when they have the real thing.

I support legal marijuana, but I have doubts it will come to Oklahoma any time soon. Arkansas couldn't even pass medical marijuana and they are slightly more liberal than Oklahoma. Hopefully the federal ban will be repealed and as it becomes a state issue, more and more states will legalize it. Given that 80 years after Prohibition we still have dry counties in some states and states like Oklahoma that severely limit alcohol, I think we are decades away from marijuana being available in all 50 states. You may not have to drive that for from states like Oklahoma to get it though as more states legalize it. If Texas legalizes it, I wonder what Oklahoma's response would be.

Arkansas is not more liberal than Oklahoma, and Arkansas came within 4 points of passing it, in 2010! That was the year every fire breathing conservative showed up to vote -- and youth, progressives, and minorities did not show up like they did in 2008. I'm encouraged by the Arkansas results.

Any more states would be foolish to pass legalized pot until the experimental states such as CO can figure out how to work out the many, many problems they have come across.

Unfortunately, tho pot is legalized now in CO, sellers here are working hard to figure out how to increase potency and derive new synthesized types of THC products with multiple times the effect of natural pot. Apparently, its not enough to have legalized pot. Give an inch.............

But CO and WA already had a long time experimenting with legalized medical marijuana. I gather not too many car accidents or other bad stuff happened as a result, or if it did, voters would have rejected further legalization of marijuana. Instead, there has been a lot of success in using a strain of marijuana with little THC and a lot of CBC on children with severe epilepsy. Any Oklahoma legislature who refuses to get behind any bill to let the people vote on legalizing medical marijuana severely lacks compassion. Unfortunately, it seems to require a lot of political daring in the State Capitol to just author such a bill.

Relax, many towns in Colorado, big and small, but not Denver, have banned stores for rec marijuana in city limits. It's too bad they will be missing out on some tax revenue while forcing residents to go out of town for an alternative to alcohol.

Arkansas is not more liberal than Oklahoma, and Arkansas came within 4 points of passing it, in 2010! That was the year every fire breathing conservative showed up to vote -- and youth, progressives, and minorities did not show up like they did in 2008. I'm encouraged by the Arkansas results.

But Arkansas is sure a lot more liberal about petitioning to get a state question to vote. Arkansas has a year to get enough signatures, while Oklahoma only has three months. So Oklahomans, who want medical marijuana legalized, will have to work a lot harder, while hoping to attract money from pro marijuana organizations to use to pay for signature takers. If the organization that wants sales of wine legalized in grocery stores is successful with its petition drive, it could serve as a good model.

I support legal marijuana, but I have doubts it will come to Oklahoma any time soon. Arkansas couldn't even pass medical marijuana and they are slightly more liberal than Oklahoma. Hopefully the federal ban will be repealed and as it becomes a state issue, more and more states will legalize it. Given that 80 years after Prohibition we still have dry counties in some states and states like Oklahoma that severely limit alcohol, I think we are decades away from marijuana being available in all 50 states. You may not have to drive that for from states like Oklahoma to get it though as more states legalize it. If Texas legalizes it, I wonder what Oklahoma's response would be.

I, agree, legalizing marijuana in some way won't come soon in Oklahoma. But the state will need to get more serious about it when and if Arkansas votes YES to legalize medical marijuana. I bet a lot of Oklahomans once thought it would be a long, long time for liquor by the drink, lotteries, casinos and tattoo application to become legal. But all those things are now legal. But I'll admit, though, it sure required decades to get liquor by the drink legalized after alcohol was made legal in 1959.

With too many Oklahoma legislators willing to listen to them, greedy police will be one of the biggest obstacles toward legalizing marijuana. They will want to take advantage of all the people with pot entering Oklahoma from legalized states to fine them big and use criminal and civil asset forfeiture. Hopefully, it will be seen as doing too much damage to Oklahoma's image to the rest of the supposedly free, enlightened, civilized world.

I, agree, legalizing marijuana in some way won't come soon in Oklahoma. But the state will need to get more serious about it when and if Arkansas votes YES to legalize medical marijuana. I bet a lot of Oklahomans once thought it would be a long, long time for liquor by the drink, lotteries, casinos and tattoo application to become legal. But all those things are now legal. But I'll admit, though, it sure required decades to get liquor by the drink legalized after alcohol was made legal in 1959.

With too many Oklahoma legislators willing to listen to them, greedy police will be one of the biggest obstacles toward legalizing marijuana. They will want to take advantage of all the people with pot entering Oklahoma from legalized states to fine them big and use criminal and civil asset forfeiture. Hopefully, it will be seen as doing too much damage to Oklahoma's image to the rest of the supposedly free, enlightened, civilized world.

I can just see the hooplah when somebody buys legal weed in Texas and then crosses the border and gets pulled over in Durant and given a 10-year sentence. As surrounding states legalize it, it won't surprise me if, after a major embarassment by such a scenario, Oklahoma decriminalizes it yet upholds the prohibition on sales within the state.

I can just see the hooplah when somebody buys legal weed in Texas and then crosses the border and gets pulled over in Durant and given a 10-year sentence. As surrounding states legalize it, it won't surprise me if, after a major embarassment by such a scenario, Oklahoma decriminalizes it yet upholds the prohibition on sales within the state.

I can just picture OK law enforcement foaming at the mouth with this scenario. But when they get to seize other assets that they get to keep for themselves I could see why.

I see it happening like this. First Okla will allow it for medical reasons but be super strict about it. Then several more years later we might decriminalize it, such as making possession a small dollar fine, like a speeding ticket. Then many more years later, as one of the last states to do so, we will make it completely legal. This is Oklahoma, we do the smart things last and the dumb things first.

I can just see the hooplah when somebody buys legal weed in Texas and then crosses the border and gets pulled over in Durant and given a 10-year sentence. As surrounding states legalize it, it won't surprise me if, after a major embarrassment by such a scenario, Oklahoma decriminalizes it yet upholds the prohibition on sales within the state.

It's true that charge of possession of marijuana after the first one is a felony and can get you up to 10 years in prison. I reckon back when Oklahoma Democrats made laws against marijuana, they regarded it as deadly addictive and dangerous as cocaine. Rep. Cory Williams, a Democrat, in last session tried to fix that stupid mistake by introducing a bill reducing the second possession to a misdemeanor. However, according to Williams, Republicans leaders were too afraid to bring it up to a vote of the full house. This was due to the fear that Republicans, who did vote in favor, would have their opponents in the primary point out what they did in mass mail outs. Since that recent poll indicated that folks over 65, the group most likely to vote, only approved of decriminalizing marijuana by a tiny 24.2%, I can easily see where Republican fears are coming from.

If cops get too dumb with their greed and target rich people, hopefully the rich people will angrily go to the State Capitol and scream bloody murder loud enough to get substantial changes in the laws done. I wouldn't expect Republicans to like hearing that donations to them will cease, if they refuse, or be switched to the Democrats.

Elaborate Drug Tunnel Discovered Near San Diego - Brian Feldman - The Atlantic Wire (http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/11/elaborate-drug-tunnel-discovered-near-san-diego/71163/)

No editorial comment, just interesting.

Someone didnt like Chad Moody's (the drug lawyer) billboard

'Drug Lawyer' claims signs in support of marijuana vandalized (http://www.okcfox.com/story/23845759/drug-lawyer-claims-vandals-destroyed-his-billboard-in-support-of-marijuana)

The three hour seminar for medical marijuana at the State Capitol that State Sen. Johnson hosted went well. Close to 100 people were there to hear from some interesting speakers on the subject. Apathy toward the issue kindly took the afternoon off. However, only two or three state legislators were thought to have attended.

It was a historical day for the Oklahoma medical marijuana movement. No marijuana presentation like it had ever been presented inside the State Capitol. An interesting revelation was that only marijuana strains high in CBD and very low in THC work well with epileptic patients.

Sen. Johnson plead with the people to contact their legislators about medical marijuana. She concluded suggesting people ask Gov. Fallin to call for a special session to take up emergency compassionate use of medical marijuana. There are desperate parents in Oklahoma with severely epileptic children who want to legally try medical marijuana on their children without having to go to Colorado. Several mothers, one with child in wheelchair, were there tearfully pleading their cases. In my opinion, any Oklahoma legislator, who still rejects medical marijuana has an awfully cold heart, sadly lacking in compassion. Story of meeting:Parents, lawmaker rally for medical marijuana at State Capitol (http://www.okcfox.com/story/23861782/parents-lawmaker-rally-for-medical-marijuana-at-state-capitol)

Relax, many towns in Colorado, big and small, but not Denver, have banned stores for rec marijuana in city limits. It's too bad they will be missing out on some tax revenue while forcing residents to go out of town for an alternative to alcohol.

I thought pot, in this context, was technically supposed to be for "medical purposes" . . .
Is it really good for rubbing and sterilization?
Or is this just a rehash of some Granny Clampettesque Home Remedy deal?

Someone didnt like Chad Moody's (the drug lawyer) billboard

'Drug Lawyer' claims signs in support of marijuana vandalized (http://www.okcfox.com/story/23845759/drug-lawyer-claims-vandals-destroyed-his-billboard-in-support-of-marijuana)

Whether a person likes the ad or not......it has gotten him publicity which is the purpose of advertising. Chad also has a couple of vw vans that have been vandalized a couple of times and they are just hippy vans. Sounds like quite a few people need to light up a fattie and chill. (Couldn't resist). I saw the ads before they went up and thought they would definitely generate a buzz. For full disclosure...chad is one of my closest friends and the van idea came from my wife.

Again, you can basically go to the drugstore and buy heroin. If I had patients who were going to use one or the other (and they will and do), I'd pick marijuana any day.

If I had to encounter someone driving who was either on a heroin derivative, drunk or high from marijuana, I'd pick the one using marijuana first and the heroin derivative second, alcohol last.

Do I want to pay for someone to spend years in jail for selling marijuana? Heck no. And if my pharmacist sold it, we could use the tax money for something beneficial.

I don't smoke marijuana and have no interest in doing so. I just think the above is common sense.

Legislators need to look at how ridiculous the marijuana laws are. And try to locate some common sense.

I don't disagree with anything betts wrote. However, most of the legilizards listen to their main donors, who are very much in the camp of

maRY GE WanNA is Aaaaaa VEL, Donchaknow that?!?!? It's pure AAAAAA-Vel! Ain't nuttin' good bout it. It's so AaaaaVEL even the debil don't want none of it. that's why he sent it here, ta gits it outta hell. If it's too AAAA Vel fer the debil in hell, ain't no way no how it needs to be LAYgle here. So ya agree? good, let me add a nuther zero on this check for ya.

I thought pot, in this context, was technically supposed to be for "medical purposes" . . .
Is it really good for rubbing and sterilization?
Or is this just a rehash of some Granny Clampettesque Home Remedy deal?

No. Colorado legalized it for recreational use. No more "medical' fig leaf.

I don't disagree with anything betts wrote. However, most of the legilizards listen to their main donors, who are very much in the camp of

maRY GE WanNA is Aaaaaa VEL, Donchaknow that?!?!? It's pure AAAAAA-Vel! Ain't nuttin' good bout it. It's so AaaaaVEL even the debil don't want none of it. that's why he sent it here, ta gits it outta hell. If it's too AAAA Vel fer the debil in hell, ain't no way no how it needs to be LAYgle here. So ya agree? good, let me add a nuther zero on this check for ya.
At the national level the pharmaceutical and law enforcement industries are fighting any legalization effort. Big pharma doesn't want something they can't control and corporations and unions that make their money off of law enforcement don't want any changes to their business models.


No. Colorado legalized it for recreational use. No more "medical' fig leaf.
The medical marijuana industry will still remain in place along side the recreational industry. Who knows what will happen in the future.

Whether a person likes the ad or not......it has gotten him publicity which is the purpose of advertising. Chad also has a couple of vw vans that have been vandalized a couple of times and they are just hippy vans. Sounds like quite a few people need to light up a fattie and chill. (Couldn't resist). I saw the ads before they went up and thought they would definitely generate a buzz. For full disclosure...chad is one of my closest friends and the van idea came from my wife.

I hope he keeps a video camera on the next billboard he puts up. If swiped again, it might be very interesting to see who's doing it.

What a surprise! Channel 4 in Denver reported tonight that the DEA and FBI have raided 30 locations around the Denver metro area. One location was a house in the VERY wealthy Cherry Hills area apparently owned by Columbian nationals suspected of working to become involved in Colorado's legalized pot industry. They found guns, thousands of rounds of ammo and a photograph of one of the Columbians in a DEA hat holding rifles up in triumph. Looks like they might have been trying to set up extortion rings of pot shops and more. You can legalize it but all it does is open up a whole new can of worms of problems.

Then by that logic since people refuse to quit driving drunk we should outlaw cars? Outlaw beer?

Maybe the transition to legalized alcohol didn't go without raids and arrests, either.

It's so silly how some people can get excited over marijuana, like it's so incredibly dangerous, with lots of people still wanting it to stay banned and make people go to prison over it, even though it's impossible to OD and die from it. Meanwhile, ironic how someone, who's heartbroken after being dumped, is perfectly free to go to a drug store and purchase enough sleeping pills to commit suicide. No one gets upset or worried over that possibility happening. Antihistamines that can cause drowsiness are still available over the counter. Yet, no one seems worried that people might drive after downing them. RX drugs are hawked on TV with a long list of bad side effects. At least one of them might make you feel like killing yourself. It's crazy where this nation places it's priorities when it comes to drugs.

Joe Cannon's raids on establishments like country clubs and fraternal lodges in the 50's had more to do with advancing the liquor laws of the time than anyone else. Once you affect those who makes the rules, the rules change.

Part of the problem was created by the feds themselves threatening banks, credit processing companies, property owners and others by working with the medical marijuana industry and through those rules and intimidation made it a cash business. Which seems counter-intuitive to the "normal" governmental way of doing things by tracking every transaction possible through the use of electronic fund transactions like debit/credit cards. People who didn't think the cartel types haven't been involved in the trade in this state for the past 50 or so years are just fooling themselves. Even though it is "legal" there is still a lot in the "illegal" trade of marijuana and other drugs. Always has been the case, always will be the case. After all, moonshiners still exist.

What a surprise! Channel 4 in Denver reported tonight that the DEA and FBI have raided 30 locations around the Denver metro area. One location was a house in the VERY wealthy Cherry Hills area apparently owned by Columbian nationals suspected of working to become involved in Colorado's legalized pot industry. They found guns, thousands of rounds of ammo and a photograph of one of the Columbians in a DEA hat holding rifles up in triumph. Looks like they might have been trying to set up extortion rings of pot shops and more. You can legalize it but all it does is open up a whole new can of worms of problems.

Maybe, but by legalizing it you are able to regulate it better and sniff out any illegal operations easier. I have no problem with them raiding suspected foreigners trying to get in the business. The alternative is that it remains illegal and this stuff still happens, just out of the sight of the public and harder to detect by authorities.

You can legalize it but all it does is open up a whole new can of worms of problems.

Maybe legalizing marijuana in certain instances would help to shine a light on where the real problem is and take the heat off of the two-bit offenders who are populating our prisons. Maybe we could free up those prison cells for some real scum.

But according to a lot of you, legalizing pot was supposed to take out all the incentive for the cartels to be involved anymore. All the extraordinady profit would vanish so organized crime pertaining to pot would, likewise, vanish.

But according to a lot of you, legalizing pot was supposed to take out all the incentive for the cartels to be involved anymore. All the extraordinady profit would vanish so organized crime pertaining to pot would, likewise, vanish.

It will, when the market and regulation catches up and makes it so that Mary can go buy some pot at the drug store cheaper than she can buy it from an organized crime source.

But according to a lot of you, legalizing pot was supposed to take out all the incentive for the cartels to be involved anymore. All the extraordinady profit would vanish so organized crime pertaining to pot would, likewise, vanish.

How long did it take the gangsters to give up on selling alcohol after it was legalized? Surely, not overnight. Anyway, please help me understand why marijuana, a plant that can't kill me, should remain banned when I have the freedom, if I feel like it, to go to a drug store, buy a couple, or so, bottles of sleeping pills to use to kill myself. By the way, I don't need pot to get high. I can simply breathe real hard and fast for around 30 seconds and promptly feel funny. Should performing that kind of behavior be banned from society? After all, if I'm foolish enough, I can do it while I'm driving.

Colorado is in the middle of determining was level of "high" is too much and how to measure it in the field so its notbpossible to know how many wrecks are caused by it. It is definitely possible to have question on whether some have "partaken" in a joint at lunch. There are also some suspicions some recent errors at my work have been, at least, partially due to being high. Sure, you can go do all sorts of silly things if you want to get high but the question is, why do you WANT to be in less than full controll of yourself.

I have no problems with pot or legitimate derivatives for actual medical reasons but when pot shops are making cookies and patries to be more easily consumed or manufacturing highly concentrated concoctions of what makes you high, its clear the goal is to get users more and more and more high. Is this REALLY what society needs?

Colorado is in the middle of determining was level of "high" is too much and how to measure it in the field so its notbpossible to know how many wrecks are caused by it. It is definitely possible to have question on whether some have "partaken" in a joint at lunch. There are also some suspicions some recent errors at my work have been, at least, partially due to being high. Sure, you can go do all sorts of silly things if you want to get high but the question is, why do you WANT to be in less than full controll of yourself.

I have no problems with pot or legitimate derivatives for actual medical reasons but when pot shops are making cookies and patries to be more easily consumed or manufacturing highly concentrated concoctions of what makes you high, its clear the goal is to get users more and more and more high. Is this REALLY what society needs?

Actually, eating the baked goods is better for the lungs than smoking.

Colorado is in the middle of determining was level of "high" is too much and how to measure it in the field so its notbpossible to know how many wrecks are caused by it. It is definitely possible to have question on whether some have "partaken" in a joint at lunch. There are also some suspicions some recent errors at my work have been, at least, partially due to being high. Sure, you can go do all sorts of silly things if you want to get high but the question is, why do you WANT to be in less than full controll of yourself.

I have no problems with pot or legitimate derivatives for actual medical reasons but when pot shops are making cookies and patries to be more easily consumed or manufacturing highly concentrated concoctions of what makes you high, its clear the goal is to get users more and more and more high. Is this REALLY what society needs?

And what concern is it to you if people want pot to get high? Some people are just ignorant to what pot does compared to other intoxicants like BOOZE. Wake up! Pot is NOWHERE near as dangerous as booze is. This is a fact. What should it matter if people smoke it or eat it? People have been doing it for ever. Nothing will change either way because if people want it they will get it. Just like anything else.

Give me a joint and send me out to drive. Give me a bottle of booze and send me out to drive. Now which would you prefer.

Perhaps but it also makes the drug more attractive to kids and easier to hide or give to unsuspecting teachers, as happened in Boulder last year.

I have no hard evidence, but I suspect there are fewer cannabis related driving accidents than alcohol related driving accidents, and not merely because alcohol is legal to obtain. Many who drink often think they actually drive a tad better after several belts. Many who smoke or brownify are perfectly content to sink into the couch or the back seat and elave the driving to anyone but them ... or so the stories seem to go.

Recreational pot stores open for business after Jan 1st in Colorado. I can bet the OK state highway patrol will be beefing up coverage especially in the panhandle to try to keep people from buying Colorado pot and transporting it into Oklahoma. As more and more states legalize it, the hypocrisy is going to get greater and greater. I will be surprised if Oklahoma is not 49th or 50th to reform its marijuana laws.

Recreational pot stores open for business after Jan 1st in Colorado. I can bet the OK state highway patrol will be beefing up coverage especially in the panhandle to try to keep people from buying Colorado pot and transporting it into Oklahoma. As more and more states legalize it, the hypocrisy is going to get greater and greater. I will be surprised if Oklahoma is not 49th or 50th to reform its marijuana laws.

If the Fed decriminalizes it...I'm not sure Oklahoma will still fight it. If Colorado starts to see dollar signs and more efficient use of law enforcement, I can't see the state NOT legalizing it.

If the Fed decriminalizes it...I'm not sure Oklahoma will still fight it. If Colorado starts to see dollar signs and more efficient use of law enforcement, I can't see the state NOT legalizing it.

It won't happen as long as Mary is governor. I am certain she would continue fighting that battle long after it is a list cause.

But according to a lot of you, legalizing pot was supposed to take out all the incentive for the cartels to be involved anymore. All the extraordinady profit would vanish so organized crime pertaining to pot would, likewise, vanish.

They will just switch their efforts toward coke and meth. Not good. But the market for those drugs is more limited and it would be in our best interest to shift law enforcement resources toward fighting them. A good 60 percent of cartel profits come from weed. Legalization will cut into that market. I agree that decriminalization would not.

Here's some intresting reading on this site.
Ill-Gotten Gains, The Rockefeller's War on Drugs (http://www.rockefellerdrugwars.com/)

If the Fed decriminalizes it...I'm not sure Oklahoma will still fight it. If Colorado starts to see dollar signs and more efficient use of law enforcement, I can't see the state NOT legalizing it.

Umm, our state turned down hundreds of millions in free federal money to help Oklahomans get health insurance so dont go thinking that our state would do the smart thing.

Umm, our state turned down hundreds of millions in free federal money to help Oklahomans get health insurance so dont go thinking that our state would do the smart thing.

Right. Oklahoma didn't repeal Prohibition until 1959 despite it being repealed nationally in 1933. Oklahoma will likely only legalize it after it is legal in all the neighboring states and there is a high-profile case of somebody getting life in prison for driving across the border from Texas and getting busted.