So Prop. 19 didnt go through (the one about Legalizing Marijuana)

[QuantumT]

*snip*
No but more people using weed equals more irresponsible jackasses.

I don't think this is necessarily true. Weed being legal could just increase the number of ways that a jackass can be irresponsible, without actually increasing the number of irresponsible jackasses.

Edit:

Yours are of many pre-misconceptions about marijuana. And as long as it's illegal, the truth about it will never become public knowledge. For instance, were you aware that in 2006, the US government attempted to patent a certain strain of marijuana for use in combating specific medical issues? Meaning that even the government has admitted to marijuana's usefulness at this point.

You have links? (I just want to see)

 

[THEfog101]

Drugs should be illegal everywhere, altogether, no matter what kind it is.

And this comes from a guy living in the Netherlands, where the dumb asses who actually get legal weed and such waste their time on the crap.

You can not believe how true that is, even in Australia where it is illegal people get hooked on it, wreck their lives, and then complain about not enough cash from Centre-link and Com care.

 

[-Samurai-]

And to think it had so much support. The problem is, the people supporting it were mostly teenage stoners. They couldn't vote anyway and if they could, they'd be too high to remember to vote.

I don't live in California, so I don't really care. If it comes here, I'll shoot it down every time. I've never voted for anything, but I'd register just to do my part to keep it illegal.

 

[Plurralbles]

the only thing I have to say is that the votes were closer than I thought it'd be.

 

[Vrach]

Democracy fails? How?

You can keep some people happy all the time, or all people happy some of the time, but not both.

If you're going to claim that "democracy fails" due to following the majority then what kind of self-centered version of democracy do you abide by?

However, to be honest, I get the feeling you're just disappointed in the outcome here, because I strongly doubt you'd have said the same thing if the 53% were FOR the legalization of marijuana.
One thing, I'm sure of, however, is that you'd be voicing your "democracy fails" opinion even louder, if there was a 53%-46% result in favor of legalization, and the prop didn't go through anyway.

It's true that democracy fails on occasion and, at least in small controlled environments a benevolent dictatorship is best, because people are and will always be dumb little sheepies.
However this is not what we have today, and as such, if you have a vote it would be strange for them to go "screw the results, I wanna grow pot!" and legalize.

Well first off, I have absolutely no vested interest in that poll. I'm not from California, or even America and I don't actually smoke pot, never even so much as tried it.

The fact is, telling 46% of the population to take their opinion and shove it up their arse when the object in question is allowing and legalizing an optional use of a substance (if you can even call it that, considering it's just a bloody plant, not a derived chemical or something) is simply stupid. Those 53% could easily never use marijuana and more to the point, the legalization doesn't necessarily mean you can smoke pot whenever you want, wherever you want, with no ties.

We already have laws for regulation of both alcohol and cigarettes worldwide and same could (and obviously would and eventually will, it's merely a matter of time) be applied to marijuana. F ex. no smoking in public (possibly allowed in certain bars or sth), no operating of heavy machinery while under the influence etc.

Imagine the same law was proposed for gaming. If 60% of the country doesn't play video games and are technophobes along with people honestly believing it actively encourages/instigates violence (you know, the same shit being pushed against marijuana and hell, whatever that 'intelligent' majority doesn't find personally appealing), should gaming be banned and outlawed simply because 40% is technically a minority?

The problem's that the system simply is not well equipped to deal with such issues. If you think a barely smaller minority is a non-issue, then fair enough, but I just can't share such a view on most subjects such as this.

 

[Something Amyss]

What if I smoke some weed, then go pick up the kids from school? I'm not in the right state of mind to drive right? I could cause an accident. Now what if everyone was like that?

What ifs are pointless. What if I get drunk off my ass then go pick up the kids from school? That has nothing to do with the substance I just used, and a lot more to do with the fact that I'm clearly an irresponsible jackass who probably was never ready to have children in the first place. Legalizing weed would have no effect on how many irresponsible jackasses there are in the world.

In fact, a woman picking up her kids from school plowed into a pedestrian about two blocks from me, killing him almost interesting. Why did she do it? She was drunk.

Nobody tried to outlaw alcohol because of it, even though ZOMG SHE WUZ DRINKING!

DUI or DWI is illegal in, you know, every state. It's going to be the same for Marijuana if legalised. Some people are going to break the law, but then, some already do. And some people drive drunk.

 

[Darth_Dude]

*snip*
No but more people using weed equals more irresponsible jackasses.

I don't think this is necessarily true. Weed being legal could just increase the number of ways that a jackass can be irresponsible, without actually increasing the number of irresponsible jackasses.

Eh I suppose thats what i was getting at.

 

[Altorin]

at least the drug dealers are happy. Especially the ones up here in BC. They're ecstatic as selling pot in the US is a multi-billion dollar industry. Criminals get to keep their monopoly.

I love how all these sorts of prohibition laws actually make the people they're supposed to be harming ECSTATIC. It's like logic just completely escapes legislators. Drug Dealers love anti-drug laws. No drug dealer has ever been like "Well, this is illegal, I should stop selling it". No, because you can make more money when the only way to get the drug is from a drug cartel, and more drug legislation just increases the value of the pot that dealers are already selling.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

Legalize it........tax the fuck out of it!

 

[Gaz6231]

Ok well done, from your data it looks like a miracle cure for the whole world but that doesn't change the fact thats it illegal.

It's illegal because it's a 'miracle cure'. [http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/]

Some people (and i only hope its a handful) well debate until the comes come home that cannibilsm and murder are ok, they may even present evidenence

I really, seriously hope you're trolling. Because comparing smoking a plant to eating someone is just fucking retarded and you know it.

Hey look its one of those links i was on about, let me just check . . . nope weed is still illegal.

I'm sure you won't mind if I take that as 'I have no rational response to the evidence presented'.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

What if I smoke some weed, then go pick up the kids from school? I'm not in the right state of mind to drive right? I could cause an accident. Now what if everyone was like that?

Funny you should say that: Smoking weed is actually less dangerous than even being tired at the wheel.

 

[ZenMonkey47]

I'm not a Californian nor a pot smoker, but I think as a consequence of voting no on legalizing marijuana one should take on the full burden of paying the 30 billion plus spent annually to fight a naturally occurring substance.

Fair's fair.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

Legalize it........tax the fuck out of it!

Definitely this. It's fucking weird that California's the one who shot this down, because California needs new income more than any other state. They should have leapt at the chance for something new to tax.

 

[Kair]

Democracy triumphs again.

That wasn't sarcasm, btw. People made a decision. It may or may not be the right one, but it's A decision

It's not a triumph of democracy, its an example of the failure of democracy.

 

[BroJing]

Here's the problem with the 'the criminals get the money instead of the government' argument.

You can justify pretty much anything that way.

For example: Roman emperors amassed considerable wealth, popularity and prestige by killing people in huge public spectacles. That doesn't make murder right. It certainly doesn't mean that because a criminal who shoots someone and steals there wallet has made some cash we should have the police do a weekly shooting spree to fund the new I95 expansion.

A silly example I know but the points no less valid, Money doesn't somehow stop something being wrong or dangerous.

Also, this was a public vote, Direct Democracy, the state government did its part by putting it on the ballot. The public clearly don't want it legalized so there's no point complaining about how the government has it wrong.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

No but more people using weed equals more irresponsible jackasses.

I'd bring this into question as well. It's almost certain that irresponsible jackasses will overuse/use MJ, but I don't think there's any evidence that weed-usage promotes jackassery.

If we banned things that turned people into jackasses, well, I'll give you a guess at the first thing that would be banned.

Hint: It's a series of tubes.