Wednesday links

Recreational cannabis soon to see widespread legalization? Let’s hope Time magazine isn’t as wrong on this as it often is on so many other things.
“We the People” is rapidly losing its appeal around the world. No surprise. (Tip o’ hat to MtK.)
Can’t you just picture Obama in a Joe Arpaio jail? Chortle. (And thanks, JS.)
Poetic justice.
Obama vs the Catholic church. And vice versa.
If you had any doubt that copyright overreach had sunk to absurd lows, you can become a true believer now.
Another state legislature takes on the NDAA. (How much would you like to bet that these guys wouldn’t have done it had the NDAA been signed by their president?)
Shouting lampposts and shouting cameras. Only in the world’s foremost nanny state …
“How Once Great Empires End.” Aside from the fact that “great empire” is an oxymoron, Charles Hugh Smith says this very well.
But once again, enough of the bad news. Here’s your Awwwwww moment for the day — and this time it doesn’t involve dogs! Seems a couple of months ago, the Toronto, Ontario, zoo found itself with a newborn polar bear that couldn’t be kept with its mother. So it’s being hand-raised by humans. Just watch that baby eat! And he’s even cuter when he tries to crawl.

(As so often lately, another tip o’ hat to MJR.)

EN February 9, 2012 1:07 pm

“I can well imagine revenue-hungry states hoping to get cash from decriminalization, though.”

Claire, that’s a complete unknown. Up until the roof caved in in 2008 the number of grants to local authorities (in the name of fighting drugs) was stunning. In our SD they’ve had to cut manpower by over ten percent because none of these grants are forthcoming any longer. Many of these grants dealt with equipment and left small county SD or PDs with a glut of the basic stuff like vehicles, radios, flashlights, weapons and computers, that modern cops need to operate. So even if they didn’t pay salaries directly they made it possible to come up with the things that officers need to operate. It’s all gone, but getting it back through decriminalization is a long shot. Most growers here would not voluntarily pay taxes or fees on their product, regardless of lenient laws. I don’t know what it is today but if you take out the Mexican Cartels growing patches (300,000 plants in 2009 and it’s doubtful that much product reached the market since we’re not seeing these guys return to our national forests) the average grower in 2009 made about $10,000 a year on their small operations. This falls under the mantel of “supplemental” income, not the typical drug dealer Nirvana that’s often pictured in the media. In fact the growers I’ve talked to would prefer the laws to be more strict but want a lessening of penalties. They love the idea of the state and county saying, “we’re not going after these guys, but we’re not going to legalize it”. When California legalized personal growing operations the price per pound was cut in half. Growers like the idea of not going to jail for it, but don’t really want anything to change, like having to pay taxes on product. The state of California has studied this problem a long time and has determined that few in the biz are looking forward to giving Jerry Brown a big chunk of their hard work.

7 Comments

Water Lily February 8, 2012 6:16 am

Great links, Claire. Thanks!
Scott February 8, 2012 10:08 am

On the shouting lamp posts and cameras..the mental image that comes to mind for me is the voice of a Vogon shouting “Resistance is Futile!”…
Ellendra February 8, 2012 1:11 pm

“the mental image that comes to mind for me is the voice of a Vogon shouting “Resistance is Futile!”…”

I thought that was the Borg? Vogons said “useless”?
Claire February 8, 2012 1:27 pm

LOL, Ellendra and Scott. Anyone dropping by this comment section would know what a bunch of nerds we are. Hm. I always thought Vogons just read bad poetry to their victims …
EN February 8, 2012 5:11 pm

Any Adam Cohen article must be understood within the light of his love of Obama. This article is a plant by the Berry O reelection campaign. Does anyone remember that Berry was going to make this happen after after he came into power in 09? He had alluded to that during his first run for president… somehow it never happened. Most of the local support for him in my county came from local horticulturalists who were sure that Berry was going to make them “Free at last! Free at last!” It didn’t quite happen. In fact he appointed Eric Holder, who spent his days and nights chasing drug users in DC. The Berry O party train immediately cracked down on clinics and weed sold in states where it was legal. This is a cynical attempt, which just might work, to gain the support of the same people he’s been persecuting. For those that don’t believe me ask yourself how come they didn’t do this in 09 when the Berry O Party Train controlled both houses of congress and could pretty much do what they wanted?
Claire February 8, 2012 6:52 pm

EN — Ah. I’d never heard of Adam Cohen & didn’t know that about his cheerleading for Obama. I did think the article was almost cartoonishly optimistic, considering how slowly and tragically the “war against the War on Drugs” is going.

I can well imagine revenue-hungry states hoping to get cash from decriminalization, though.
EN February 9, 2012 1:07 pm

“I can well imagine revenue-hungry states hoping to get cash from decriminalization, though.”

Claire, that’s a complete unknown. Up until the roof caved in in 2008 the number of grants to local authorities (in the name of fighting drugs) was stunning. In our SD they’ve had to cut manpower by over ten percent because none of these grants are forthcoming any longer. Many of these grants dealt with equipment and left small county SD or PDs with a glut of the basic stuff like vehicles, radios, flashlights, weapons and computers, that modern cops need to operate. So even if they didn’t pay salaries directly they made it possible to come up with the things that officers need to operate. It’s all gone, but getting it back through decriminalization is a long shot. Most growers here would not voluntarily pay taxes or fees on their product, regardless of lenient laws. I don’t know what it is today but if you take out the Mexican Cartels growing patches (300,000 plants in 2009 and it’s doubtful that much product reached the market since we’re not seeing these guys return to our national forests) the average grower in 2009 made about $10,000 a year on their small operations. This falls under the mantel of “supplemental” income, not the typical drug dealer Nirvana that’s often pictured in the media. In fact the growers I’ve talked to would prefer the laws to be more strict but want a lessening of penalties. They love the idea of the state and county saying, “we’re not going after these guys, but we’re not going to legalize it”. When California legalized personal growing operations the price per pound was cut in half. Growers like the idea of not going to jail for it, but don’t really want anything to change, like having to pay taxes on product. The state of California has studied this problem a long time and has determined that few in the biz are looking forward to giving Jerry Brown a big chunk of their hard work.