Dude… Schwarzenegger says it’s time to debate marijuana

[Hepburn]

Could the legalization and taxation of marijuana rescue California's sagging economy? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't endorsing the idea but today said he would be interested in a robust debate on the topic.

(NEWSCOM/FILE)

Although President Obama last month dismissed the possibility of legalizing marijuana, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says it’s time to talk about it.

Speaking at an event to promote wildfire safety, the governor was asked a question about “wild life” safety. Specifically, if it was time for the state to start legalizing and taxing marijuana use.

“Well, I think it’s not time for that, but I think it’s time for a debate,” Schwarzenegger said. “I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I’m always for an open debate on it.”

Poll

A recent poll showed that 56 percent of Californians supported legalizing and taxing marijuana.

One bill in the California State Assembly would tax marijuana at $50 per ounce. The bill’s author claims the state would make over $1 billion per year on the tax.

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/05/05/dude-schwarzenegger-says-its-time-to-debate-marijuana/

Legalize EVERYTHING, IMO:

Drugs, prostitution, gambling, etc. There is NO reason the the state to legislate morality by keeping such things a MJ an illegal substance.

JMHO

[Xipe Totec]

1. Dude, you can't debate with a brownie ingredient... n/t

[Hepburn]

4. Alice B. Toklas lives....

...still! :hi:

[MADem]

2. Here we go--I think there's the first crack in the dam....second, actually.

Barney Frank said it first, but Ahhh-nuld has more "star power."

Plus, they've got footage of him getting stoned in his weightlifting days!

[Hepburn]

6. People are going to smoke grass....

...making it illegal is NOT going to change that.

It is just plain stupid to NOT get some of the action.

[MADem]

12. I think it could go a long way to eliminating the deficit. nt

[dustbunnie]

9. Yes I have that excellent footage of him giggling and toking away on Pumping Iron.

:)

We load her up every now and then just to have a laugh. Unreal how much that man has changed over the years.

[Rebubula]

41. LOLZ

It is unreal how much I have changed over the years...

Getting old is not for wimps...

[paulsby]

29. the frigging national review was advocating for this crap 20 yrs ago

it's hardly new.

there are plenty of lefties and righties willing to be reasonable about pot.

they are just (generally) not in positions of power, or too much frigging wimps to advocate for it once they get in

[paulsby]

30. the frigging national review was advocating for this crap 20 yrs ago

it's hardly new.

there are plenty of lefties and righties willing to be reasonable about pot.

they are just (generally) not in positions of power, or too much frigging wimps to advocate for it once they get in

[MADem]

35. Yeah, but when the frigging National Review was advocating for it, it didn't have a chance in hell

of becoming law in the near term. Even William F. Buckley, when he "decided to try" the stuff, got on a boat and went out beyond the jurisdictional limits of the nation before he deigned to indulge in the substance--purely for research purposes, of course.

NOW, though, it does have that chance in hell. When Massachusetts turns potsmoking into the equivalent of jaywalking, you know there's a sea change happening. I say the nation ought to make some money off it. What the hell. Put the smugglers out of business and tax the shit.

[paulsby]

36. im 100% in agreement

and i think we are seeing incremental changes that will lead to more and more acceptance.

my state has effectively decrim'd it

[anigbrowl]

39. Well, good ideas often take a long time to come to fruition

I forget who said 'politics is the art of the possible,' but it's very true. Of course, it's very frustrating when you see a clear case for change (like this issue) and you have to sit back and be patient. Even more so when you a bad idea (like, say, mandatory minimum prison sentences) which gains rapid traction and is passed into law quickly without regard to the long-term consequences. It's like a slow cooker vs a microwave meal...instant gratification is attractive, but waiting often delivers a better result in the end.

[tabasco]

3. Holy shit. I might be able to start watching his movies again if this keeps up.

It is far past time to end marijuana prohibition.

A million people become criminals every year because of stupid marijuana laws.

100,000 every year become FELONS for growing pot in their closet.

[JVS]

5. Could this be Ahnuld's chance at cementing a legacy?

[east texas lib]

7. I agree...

Of course, the criminal justice system will not give up it's cash cows very easily.

[Hepburn]

10. There is so much "machinery" in place....

...like the DEA, that it would be difficult to disban the "enforcement" arm of govt and find something else for them to do.

[Merlot]

23. There's plenty for them to do.

If drugs were made legal, there would still be illegal trafficking and selling.

There are also other things they could actually enforce, like human sex slave trafficking.

[paulsby]

31. i know and i work with many DEA agents.

you'd be surprised how many are for decrim or legalization of pot, or at least open to discussing it.

not the management, of course. but the management of DEA has as much in common with the workers as the CEO of GM has with an assembly line worker.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Let the debate begin!

I am very encouraged to hear this...

:fistbump:

[Kaleko]

11. Actually, it's long past time to legalize pot.

But "opening the debate" should allow the tidal wave to rush in through the crack in Arnold's lying ass.

[Towlie]

13. Arnold is talking about fixing the California budget while Obama is talking about the U.S. economy.

It may be that Barack Obama dismissed the issue from an economist's point of view. He may not feel it will have a worthwhile positive effect on the national economy. However, it would probably do wonders for the California budget.

[Merlot]

15. Think of the tourism industry!

Not only would the state coffers get filled, but imagine all the bus loads of people from other states.

It's like what gay marriage WAS doing for the state economy, a nice side benefit.

And if we got rid of all the overcrowding in the prisons, and spent the money on drug addiction programs?

Oh, there is defiantly a silver lining to this dark time we are going through. Because if times were good, this topic wouldn't even be on the table.

[Towlie]

20. Right. It would be like Las Vegas used to be - a place to do what's illegal elsewhere.

[InvisibleTouch]

14. According to a friend of mine who used to be in the bodybuilding...

...and martial arts scene, anytime he met Ahnuld, the guy was smoking a joint. So this kinda makes sense. I never thought he was such a bad guy, for a rethug. :)

[Beam Me Up]

17. Yeah, that's our gropenator:

[Beam Me Up]

18. dupe

[Merlot]

24. He's still pretty awful, a repub through and through.

This is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't begin to atone for all the crap he's put CA through.

[anigbrowl]

28. I don't agree. He's not responsible for the (appalling) California GOP.

He has faults. There's a bunch of ways in which he's been a disappointing governor. But he's also done some things that impress me, and on balance I'm fairly happy with his tenure. If he could run for a third term I'd consider voting for him, again.

We have so many political problems in CA. The state GOP is a disaster on wheels. The Democratic legislators are not that great. the prison officer's union, which is a huge political power in the state, is a tool of the prison-building complex and has fought his efforts at reform tooth and nail (which is why Arnold has taken the compromise position of letting the courts rule on prison many prison administration cases, because attempts at reform die the minute they hit the legislature). Our state budget process is a disgraceful shambles.

Yeah, he's no Democrat. He's avoided some problems and gone back on his word about issues that matter to me. But our state politics are dysfunctional in a bunch of ways, and I don't blame him for that. They were dysfunctional when we last had a Democratic governor, Gray Davis, who was not only ineffective but had no concept of leadership or of fighting for California. And compared to Pete wilson, schwarznegger does act like a Democrat. I give him a B-.

[ContinentalOp]

32. He's no Democrat? Hell, YOU'RE no Democrat if you voted for the fucking guy?

This is the man who had private meetings with Enron to plot the recall so that Enron could avoid paying the $9 billion that Davis and Bustamante were trying to recover for the state. Davis was ineffective? Apparently he was effective enough to scare Enron shitless and do anything necessary to force him out of office and install their stooge in his place.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is DIRECTLY responsible for California's current problems. Republican apologists like yourself truly make me sick.

[anigbrowl]

38. You're right, I'm not. I'm an independent and will reamin one.

I did not vote Schwarzenegger into office, but I was willing to support him for re-election. And yes, I think Davis was ineffective, and proved incapable of making his case to the electorate. California had multiple problems long before Arnold Schwarznegger thought of running for office. A lot of them were initiated by republicans, notably Reagan and Wilson. Schwarznegger's Republicanism has been considerably more moderated, which, I presume, is why he's derided as a RINO by so many in the GOP. They're pretty disappointed with their 'stooge' because he hasn't been the pliable tool they expected.

I don't really care what makes you sick. I vote on a case-by-case basis rather than a straight party ticket. In general I prefer Democrats, but only after I've taken time to consider all my choices.

[Beam Me Up]

16. Rec 5 -- but to hell with debate. The American people have been debating this

for at least since the late Sixties, early Seventies. This shouldn't be about "debate" -- it should be about science. The science has been in numerous time, including the early 70s, where Nixon's Shafer commission advocated decriminalization:

March 18, 2002 - Washington, DC, USA

March 22nd marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the report of the so-called "Shafer Commission" -- the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse -- whose members were appointed by then-President Richard Nixon. The Shafer Commission's (named after commission Chair, Gov. Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania) 1972 report, entitled "Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding," boldly proclaimed that "neither the marihuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety" and recommended Congress and state legislatures decriminalize the use and casual distribution of marijuana for personal use.

Though rejected by Nixon -- who refused to even read the report -- and largely ignored by Congress, the influence of the Shafer Commission report thirty-years later should not be overlooked. In the years that followed its release, NORML took the Commission's findings from state-to-state. Ultimately, this dialogue was instrumental in convincing 11 state legislatures to decriminalize criminal penalties for the possession of minor amounts of marijuana -- policies that remain in effect today. In many other states, the Commission's recommendations were cited as justification for relaxing marijuana penalties for minor offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. By 1977, even the President of the United States was convinced: then-President Jimmy Carter -- citing the Shafer Commission -- told Congress "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to the individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use."

"According to a recent Zogby Poll," said NORML's Executive Director Keith Stroup, "61% of the voters nationwide currently agree with the Shafer Commission conclusion that responsible marijuana smokers should not be arrested or jailed; only 33% support policies that treat marijuana smokers like criminals. Yet over 700,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges last year. It's time for our elected officials to decriminalize the personal possession and use of marijuana by adults. It was the right thing to do then and it's the right thing to do now. President Bush should read this report." A copy of Gov. Shafer's letter to President Nixon and Congress follows.

Source: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5049

MJ had been put in Category 1 of the drug Schedule (most prohibited along with heroine, et al) "temporarily" pending the report and should have been rescheduled upon its release. Nixon, however, wanted to screw the "dirty hippies" and filed the report in the circular container and MJ has remained in that most prohibited position ever since -- despite repeated petitions brought against HHS to reschedule it.

No more debate. Just DO IT already!

[phusion]

19. I think this is a wonderful idea...

and it's past time we have some sort of national discussion. Question is what can we (as citizens) do to push things along?

[Gold Metal Flake]

21. He has vetoed hemp farming legislation everytime it's crossed his desk.

He's bullshitting.

[MasonJar]

22. Why did Arnold ever become a PUG?

[Merlot]

25. Because he's a major a**hole

Sorry, nothing about this guy is good.

[ContinentalOp]

33. What do you mean "become"? The guy's a total scumbag who was in cahoots with Enron.

He's responsible for most of our state's problems but so many idiots are starstruck by he and his celebrity Democrat wife that they make all sorts of apologies for him. This thread is a perfect example. What he said is hardly any better and less waffling than what Obama said FFS! He clearly said we shouldn't legalize pot, we should just "debate" it.

[MADem]

37. Because he's rich. Shaquille O'Neill was one for the same reason for a time. NT

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Damn Straight.

I'm agreeing with Der Gropenator.

[EmilyAnne]

27. Let the state vote on it like Prop 8. After a few years of some of the more uptight morons smoking

weed, have another vote on gay marriage and I guarantee it will be legalized.
A bunch of stoned Christians won't care so much about petty bullshit.
They should probably all be on some kind of anti-anxiety medications since a daily concern is that some giant, angry invisible man in the sky might get mad at them and thrown them into a lake of fire.
Marijuana would be like self-medicating and will provide some relief from their violent, fearful obsessions.

[ContinentalOp]

34. This is WORSE than what Obama said.

Obama said that legalizing pot wouldn't help the national economy and I pretty much agree with that assessment. Schwarzenegger says "now is not the time, let's just talk about it"? How the hell is that any better? Oh that's right, Schwarzenegger can apparently do no wrong in some idiotic star struck DUer's eyes while our Democratic President apparently can never do anything right.

[Echo In Light]

40. Anyone seen the youtube clip of him talking about having fun smoking weed w/Tommy Chong?