Provincial Marijuana Laws & Sensible BC

[fluffy]

Did they make that decision, or were businesses scared to be associated with them?

I honestly don't know. I hear plenty of support for the petition from all parts of the spectrum from non-user right through to loadie, I'm just waiting to see how much effort will be expended locally to reach all the areas where potential votes may be. Personally I'm not vested deeply enough in the issue to go much past expressing my own views in the form of a signature, although when it does come up in discussion I'm not shy about voicing my opinion that I believe any move towards legalization to be a move in the right direction. Still, you're not likely to find me out knocking on doors in my neighbourhood. I wonder if anyone will come knocking on my door?

[TMixer]

I honestly don't know. I hear plenty of support for the petition from all parts of the spectrum from non-user right through to loadie, I'm just waiting to see how much effort will be expended locally to reach all the areas where potential votes may be. Personally I'm not vested deeply enough in the issue to go much past expressing my own views in the form of a signature, although when it does come up in discussion I'm not shy about voicing my opinion that I believe any move towards legalization to be a move in the right direction. Still, you're not likely to find me out knocking on doors in my neighbourhood. I wonder if anyone will come knocking on my door?

Understood, but the fact remains that stigma is the number one enemy of SensibleBC. They've said it themselves. As such, while individuals may have no problem supporting them and signing the petition, those same individuals are bound to think twice about displaying support at their place of business in any form, including allowing SensibleBC to collect signatures there. Hed shops will always have petitions like this whenever they come up. Their biggest problem is cops. Not because they're doing anything illegal, they're not, but because obvious undercover cops take up a lot of their time looking for something that just isn't there. Don't believe me? Go spend a couple hours in a hed shop (I used to work near one) and you'll see one or two come in, looking like a cop that's trying not to look like a cop, and asking about everything they refuse to do (mostly selling marijuana itself and not just paraphernalia).
What needs to happen is someone like you who does own a business get on board to a level beyond what you say you are (which I respect wholeheartedly) and put that petition in their place of business. Stigma says the only businesses who can support legalization are businesses whose main clientele is stoners. We're seeing, as you say, more support from individuals who wouldn't support it traditionally, but until someone is willing to stand up and say, "I'm not a user, I'm a business owner, and I support legalization!" by joining the petition instead of just signing it.

Just like we need the individual users who can't say anything publicly because of the stigma-business aspect (doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc) to stand up for themselves and their beliefs.

[fluffy]

I do wonder if the local organizers are making an active effort to recruit supporters outside the "frequent user" category. Probably too early to be making a judgement, a couple of days into a three month campaign. I'm watching with interest.

[TMixer]

I do wonder if the local organizers are making an active effort to recruit supporters outside the "frequent user" category. Probably too early to be making a judgement, a couple of days into a three month campaign. I'm watching with interest.

I think when they say this is step 1, they're lying a little. This petition is doomed to fail and is really step 0.5. What this has done is prove, beyond a doubt, that the legalization supporters have got through to a large segment of the non-smoking population on the topics of law enforcement and cash output vs cash inflow. It seems they've also proven that the idea of the stereotypical stoner is slowly dying. Maybe too slowly, but it is dying.

At the end of the day, I think that's what this was about; proving where we stand. There's no way this gets 10% in each riding, just no way. Not now. But, it has shown that we're on the right path. By publicly proving that, they're further breaking the stereotype and stigma. Suddenly more people are coming out saying "I use" or "I don't care what other people do" and changing even more minds.

After this, apathy will be the next battle (I don't smoke, it doesn't concern me) and once that battle is won, we have a chance at seeing actual change in this country.

[jimsenchuk]

This Cop Makes the Most Compelling Argument for Marijuana Legalization Ever

Speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, King County, Washington, Sheriff John Urquhart laid out what may go down as one of the most compelling pro-law-enforcement arguments for legalizing marijuana to ever make it into the Congressional record.

“During my career I’ve investigated everything from shop lifts to homicides, but I’ve also spent almost 12 years as a narcotics detective,” the lifelong cop explained. “My experience shows me that the war on drugs has been a failure… So the citizens of the state of Washington decided it was time to try something new.”

King County, home to Seattle, saw thousands of marijuana enthusiasts toking up in public on election night 2012 as the state became one of the first to pass a legalization initiative. What’s unfolded since that night in Washington and Colorado has been nothing short of game-changing for drug reform advocates, many of whom were beside themselves with elation when the Obama administration announced it would not be challenging the states’ laws, provided some sort of regulatory framework is in place and vigorously enforced.

“Too often the attitude of the police is, ‘We’re the cops and you’re not, don’t tell us how to do our job,’” he continued. “That’s the wrong attitude, and I refuse to fall into that trap. The title of this hearing is the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws. I don’t see a huge conflict.”

“The reality is, we do have complimentary goals and values,” Urquhart said. “We all agree we don’t want our children using marijuana. We all agree we don’t want impaired drivers. We all agree we don’t want to continue enriching criminals.”

“Washington’s law honors those values by separating consumers from gangs and diverting the proceeds from the sale of marijuana toward furthering goals of public safety,” he continued. “Legalizing and regulating the possession and the sale of marijuana, is it a better alternative? I think it is, but I’m willing to be proven wrong.”

“The only way we’ll know, however, is if we are allowed to try.”

Watch:

http://progressive.org/cop-argument-mar ... galization

[steven lloyd]

At the end of the day, I think that's what this was about; proving where we stand. There's no way this gets 10% in each riding, just no way. Not now. But, it has shown that we're on the right path. By publicly proving that, they're further breaking the stereotype and stigma. Suddenly more people are coming out saying "I use" or "I don't care what other people do" and changing even more minds. After this, apathy will be the next battle (I don't smoke, it doesn't concern me) and once that battle is won, we have a chance at seeing actual change in this country.

I think you may be right Mixer. Hopefully for some the next step will be, "Hey, I don’t smoke but this does concern me. I’m sick and tired of having hundreds of millions of our tax dollars utterly wasted every year in a complete and absolute waste when those already scarce and unaccounted for tax dollars are so badly needed elsewhere, and I am sick of the growing drug crime violence and growing power of organized crime fuelled by illegal cannabis profits and I don’t want someone I know becoming another innocent victim of a drug war that will never be won".

[Prestige Mike]

I would be very surprised if sensibleBC is able to get 10% of the populations signatures in each riding, which is sad because I would think approximately 50% of BC residents would be in favor of some form of decriminalization or legalization of marijuana.

[steven lloyd]

Chronic marijuana use has been linked by some studies to a condition referred to as “amotivational syndrome”
- like the electorate at large in this province needs to smoke dope to exhibit any more apathy.

[maryjane48]

christy should be helping this out, its a better way for british columbians to lead better lives, free the weed :)

[Donald G]

To Prestige Mike ...

I think that Sensible BC will fail because they profess to agree with every position in the wide spectrum of choices available to those who support the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana in BC. Those who profess to stand for everything end up standing for nothing specific, which is how I see their collective position. In their zest to make marijuana available any number of persons who profess to be "members" of Sensible BC are giving out very distorted, and in some cases downright false information. Their "trust me to negotiate a specific position later" seems similar to the position taken by the Quebc Independence Movement when they asked the Quebec people for authorization to "negotiate" with Canada AFTER being given BLANKET authority to do so. The whole approach is absolutely ridiculous and IMO a bit shady in many respects.