Rick Perry favors Marijuana Decriminalization

[Indy]

If you knew why pot was even banned in the first place, you'd realize the sheer folly of all this.

It had ZERO to do with public health. It is fundamentally insane that in our country alcohol is legal but pot is not.

If I had to hazard a guess I would say the only thing holding it up (legalization) is that corporate titans are fighting behind the scenes over who will get to monopolize pot distribution and then who can most quickly create a monopoly.

[Saz]

It's not corporations. It's the f**k police. We have bullshit unconstitutional civil asset forfeitures that make the cops a ton of money, and drugs provide a bullshit pretense to search anyone and anything a cop might be concerned about. The DOJ brings in BILLIONS a year in civil asset forfeitures, and with frozen budgets cops now NEED this money to continue funding their salaries. The police departments across the country currently have a PROFIT MOTIVE to make drug arrests because then they can seize and auction any property remotely related to the crime, and use the proceeds to buy new equipment, pay new deputies, and give themselves bonuses.

Meanwhile, asshole prosecutors see drug charges as one more tool to get defendants to bargain. Anything that will protect their kick ass conviction rate! It's the state that perpetuates this and people like philly who say decriminalization is a "solution" and don't see it as a civil liberties issue. This needs to be the biggest social issue in america, and it will be in a short time. Like you said, it's f**k INSANE that we lock away hundreds of thousands of our citizens for this.

This is why I say f**k the police. At every f**k level, they prioritize themselves and their continued employment over our safety or liberty. They routinely use excessive force on the street when interacting with civilians, and they continually perpetuate racist policies that unjustly deprive millions of americans of life, liberty and property.

*Awaits the small government "conservatives" who are going to explain why the government should deprive you of your liberty for a harmless act*

[Philly]

Don't forget corrections officers unions. Keep the jails packed and it means more work for them.

[Philly]

[Philly]

Also because you said it isn't the corporations, Indy is going to come back in here and give a smug history lecture about hemp and then switch mid-post to his typical rant about how he's the only person in America who understands the truly important issues.

Just a heads up.

[nordictruce]

I've said this before but the police is middle class welfare. That's all it is today. Giving people jobs who have no skill set in the least bit, drumming up business by locking (black) people up and diving the country more and more by labeling drug users as felons.

[Kane]

Uh huh. Blame the people enforcing laws on the books put forth by legislatiors supported by their constituencies. Smart move.

[The Dharma Bum]

[Kane]

Least productive as well. Opportune/ease is never the best metric because almost everything in this world worth doing is the harder/more difficult choice. This is just laziness.

[Saz]