Save the Economy? Legalize Pot

It is a cash cow crop waiting to be taken advantage of, and if the government ever realized the potential of how much money is involved with this, they would be all over it. Methinks they might even have a hand in it on a small level even now. Medical marijuana in now legal in 12 states. When my stepfather was dying from cancer he stated that if it had of been legal in his state he would have used it to help improve his appetite. When some one is dying I think you should give them every comfort available. If I had lived closer to him I know I would have done my best to accommodate him.

As Ryan would say,

Bonnnnnnnnnnnnnng

since when is pots not legal. hows i gonna cook my food. i wished busch were still precedent. you cood cook food in pots and still be legal when busch were precedent. busch were a good precedent. they named a good beer after him and that prooves it. at leest i still has his beer.

A few random thoughts......

Of course, we are trying to tax tobacco off the market, so I am not sure how adding another smoked product would go.

What about limits to when and where you can smoke like cigs. The second hand effect here can give you that contact buzz effect as well.

Will this kill the market for bad stoner movies? They are not that funny and taking away the naughty factor of doing something bad could put these guys out of business. These days that could spell bail out.

http://federalistblogs.wordpress.com

>That's the not-so-surprising conclusion
>being reached by more than a few noted
>economists, Milton Friedman among them.

"Being reached by ... Milton Friedman"? Maybe you missed it, David, but Uncle Miltie reached his final "conclusion" over two years ago. Are the rest of the economists on the letter smoking something that gives them psychic powers? Or did they in fact deliver the letter some time ago? (Or, most likely, did they continue to gather signatures, but not actually deliver the letter until they had a President who they thought might react favorably?)

If it will keep the Democrats happy by all means.. by all means

It could help in a couple of ways not mentioned as well. First, a lot of the border killings are pot smuggling related. That will go away. It may have been factored into cost in the article, but there's the humanity. Pot revenue will stay in the country if it's legal, too.

Second, it will finally destigmatize hemp as a crop.

There is a non THC generating species of Cannabis that is the most efficient bioconverter in the plant kingdom. It can turn sunlight and a minimum amount of nutrients into usable products including hemp oil for running diesel engines and I would assume for polymer synthesis. The fiber is useful as construction or clothing material and other stuff including fermentation to EtOH.

It's another approach to green energy, and it gives a lot more back per acre than corn, it grows anywhere and doesn't need to compete with food crops.

That may be the more convincing argument, but legalizing recreational pot use and collecting revenue would probably improve quality control as well as generate substantial revenue. Seedy ditchweed would be a thing of the past.

Another source of federal income should be religious institutions that violate separation principles. In fact, taxation of income generating church property of any sort should be on the table as well, if the income is not channeled into charitable uses.

I'm not sure if there are any downsides to legalization. Most of the arguments against I've heard are based in thirties propaganda or distortion of religious principles.

Forget taxing. How about a total government monopoly. That would create some money for the government. Suck if you wanna open up a coffee shop. Nationalize Weed. And Whores. And Gambling.

Cube7:46PMFeb 7th 2009

I've discussed this before, you wanna stimulate the economy? Legalize it already. Actually, that might just make the economy hungry, giddy, and slightly drowsy -- not stimulate it. Maybe blow would work.

Cube8:04PMFeb 7th 2009

It's time to go green. The government should open up coffee shops all over the country and have a monopoly on it. Blow is a stimulant. Weed is under its own category. The economy will either rebound or we won't give a shit.

Big Daddy should be able to score some good shit now that he's ruler of the Universe. I say, bake out Iran and Israel. The whole Mid-East. Except that Ahminjinjad or whatever. Fuck him. Total Buzzkill.

Cube12:17PMFeb 8th 2009

Whores. Gambling. Weed. Legalize all of that nationwide and watch the economy grow. These paternalistic laws are antithetical to implicit concepts of ordered liberty. For those who proclaim themselves as libertarians, this should be no problem. Rather than appealing to dogma, I think a balancing test coupled with a utilitarian approach really could stimulate the economy. A good start would be cutting paternalistic laws that impede stimulus to the economy and in fact, are totally lame intrinsically.

My argument however will assume for argument's sake the three paternalistic laws are good. Or conversely, that weed, whores, and gambling are bad. I will grant out moral, health, and religious reasons as to why we might need paternalistic law, yet argue they are trumped by exigent and more important issues.

On one side of the scale you have the moral objections, and let's assume they have merit, to the three areas I mention. The other side of the scale has the benefit the economy might derive from these pleasure zones as well as the concept of one's freedom to engage in the conduct in that none of the aforementioned acts "harm others." "Harm to others" -- a sound philosophical principle that deserves as much merit as a basic moral and paternalistic argument -- is a reason to legalize prostitution, gambling, and marijuana nationwide. Another anvil on this side of the scale is an economic one. Some dollar amount can be derived from the activities. If you can reason, at a minimum, that philosophically there is a split as to the conduct in question, the scales tip for money reason. When one realizes reasonable minds can disagree ethically with the activities identified, all should agree the common enemy, economic peril, is the battlefield. If reasonable minds disagree on the activity, it is reasonable to put those issues to the side and ask whether there is any economic upside. The answer to that is yes.

There is only a potential economic gain to legalizing the conduct I mention. No potential harm. We can avoid the moral debate (since reasonable minds disagree) and move on to what reasonable minds do agree on is more important right now. Money. The argument for legalizing it stems from realizing that if reasonable minds disagree on paternalistic laws, the reasonable thing to do is to focus on what's more important.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/02/07/obama-tally-day-18-marijuana-and-iran/1#comments

Oh, for crying out loud. Another blogger with opinions on life,as we know it. Doesn't admit to smoking pot, but it should be legal. It's like alcohol, schlemiel. Only no hangover, and one doesn't want to deal with much of anything in reality. Take it from one who was there, in 1970. One laughs a lot. Food is fun. Weed is somewhat a little more potent, now. It isn't the same stuff, that was out there. Get a grip, and stay off the grape, pal.

Not all stoner movies suck Federalist Blog. Off the top of my head, I'll name some that are excellent. Not included are movies that weed make good.

Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke

Pineapple Express

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (really a coming of age flick, but Spicolli makes it a stoner flick).

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (GITMO does not make it)

Schindler's List

Cube,

To add to your list of funny stoner movies...

Smiley Face and Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny

This would put alot of blacks and mexicans out of business.

Illegal drugs are a main source of income for these two groups.

legal pot would be nice, but you what would be better?
seeing president obama's birth certificate!

legalize it... i don't really care if it's taxed or not, but legalize it... for sure...

The scene with Saget in Half Baked is solid.

Billions in revenue plus the added bonus of watching Oreo stock go through the roof.

Wish Belkin1:51PMFeb 25th 2009

Billions in revenue plus the added bonus of watching Oreo stock go through the roof.
==============

Love the new Oreos. Fudgees and Golden Oreos with chocolate cream.

Yum Yum

"Is that a joint, man? It looks like a quarter-pounder ... Is it heavy shit, man? Will it blow me a-WAY? I was smokin' since I was born, man. I can smoke anything, man. I smoked that Michouacan, Acapulco Gold, I even smoked that tied stick. You know, that stuff tied to a stick. That didn't do nothin' to me. I could probably smoke this whole joint and walk away, man. Will be no problem at all ..."

lmao

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and

Bigidy! Bigidy! Bigidy! Bigidy! Bigidy! Bigidy! Bigidy!

Ba Ba BONG!!!!!!


; )

How about 'History of the World',
Mel Brooks and Gregory Hines?