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Memo to Snyder: Don’t stop the radical reforms now!Moratorium on Mary Jane: Communities find ‘medical marijuana’ isn’t such a good thing to have around
July 28th, 2010 | 
Author: 
Dan Calabrese
It hasn’t been that long since states began passing laws legalizing “medical marijuana,” even though pot remains illegal on the federal level. The new state laws were cause for celebration for stoners, who just have to find unethical doctors willing to give them a note in exchange for a C-note or two, and they can get stoned legally.
Gee, who’d have thought there would be problems?
The best and the brightest.
Communities across the country, like California’s Fresno County and the Michigan municipalities of Pontiac and Waterford Township, are now moving to place moratoriums on “medical marijuana”-related businesses.
Part of the concern is zoning, since no community has a zoning ordinance that expressly allows for business who sell pot. But the larger concern, as expressed by Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, is crime.
But how can this be? The people whose lives revolve around their cherished stupor-inducing weed told us that legalizing pot would “take the crime out of it.”
Oh. Of course. That was complete bullshit.
First, go to any chief of police in any community in America, and ask this question: If everyone in your community stopped drinking alcohol and smoking pot, entirely, how much of the crime to which you have to respond would be eliminated? I’ll bet they tell you at least 80 percent. And I’m not talking about the crime of buying and smoking pot. I’m talking about the stuff people do when they’re under the influence of one or both.
Although the company line is that smoking pot just makes you mellow, dude, many pot smokers will admit on cross-examination that pot intensifies personality traits. If you’re melancholy, you’ll get really melancholy. If you’re reckless, you’ll get really reckless.
And when your personality traits are intensified, and your ability to exercise control over them is reduced, you’re more likely to do things that your better judgment would ordinarily prevent you from doing.
Sheriff Mim seems to understand better than California state legislators that “medical marijuana” is a misnomer. It’s not just a bunch of pain-stricken cancer patients using the only thing that relieves their pain, restores their appetite, etc. And even if smoking pot does do that for some people, only the most naive among us would actually believe the larger movement to legalize “medical marijuana” is really about that.
Back in Michigan, the city of Pontiac is now grappling with another marijuana-related problem: Stoners have leased the previously shuttered Pontiac Silverdome and plan to hold the “First Ever International Cannabis Convention” at the former home of the Detroit Lions, whose fans just might show up, as they will take any pain relief they can get.
Pontiac Police Chief Val Gross is not happy. For one thing, the organizers of the event put this whole thing together which even giving a heads-up to the police, which is a strange thing to do if you’re so convinced the law is on your side.
But it’s not, of course. For one thing, smoking pot in general is still illegal in Pontiac, as is possession of marijuana-related paraphernalia. The city has no plans to change any of these laws. For another thing, smoking anything in any public place became illegal in Michigan in May. Whether you agree with that law or not, it’s the law, and Pontiac law enforcement officials now have to spend big money and probably put in lots of overtime to make sure that a bunch of stoners convened under the Silverdome roof aren’t thumbing their noses at the law en masse.
So the moratoriums pile up, as communities realize that having these “dispensaries” around to attract stoners is not such a good thing.
Could it be that the reasoning upon stoners built the case for “medical marijuana” was a complete fraud, and communities are only just now starting to realize this? Eh . . . could be.
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Posted in Dan Calabrese
121 Responses to “Moratorium on Mary Jane: Communities find ‘medical marijuana’ isn’t such a good thing to have around”
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Hey Troll… I mean Hey John!
If your going to refer to marijuana as a “vile poison” then I’d sure like to see some evidence of that. How much would I have to smoke to overdose?
If anyone can tell me how much marijuana it takes to overdose I would appreciate it but please cite your source of information.
While drug legalization advocates may portray themselves as victims, often espousing that they have a constitutional right to use marijuana. We assert that our constitutionally protected right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is blatantly violated by marijuana legalization. Drug users can not insinuate that their right to use somehow trumps our right to live our lives, and bring up our children without exposing them to the shady underworld of drug use.
We assert that marijuana use, sales and legalization violates our constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness, under the 14th amendment. We have also established a legal, monetary recourse.
It is very easy to overdose on heroin and cocaine – especially when mixed to form “speedballs”. Marijuana addiction leads directly to using these deadly substances…if not for marijuana no one would move on to them.
First of all this is all bull about how people are some how encroching on your man made rights simply because they/I am smoking merijuana. Ciggaretts smoke too. They are legal. Alcohol impairs me more than the best extract could ever, and its legal. So what is your point? What does it/they do to you? In short your only point with any validity is that your children should not have to be subjected to others choices. I Agree, but this is america and thats the way it is. I have to smell cigaretts everyday how is merijuana smoke any worse?
You So Funny – Normally, I would take the time to reply to the substance of what you have posted. One can’t however, help but notice that you have some real problems organizing your thoughts. I mean, you are a really stupid person.
Hey! Ummmmmm, ‘you so funny’, why don’t you go home and ask mommy to serve you up a double helping of dumb tonight. I mean cooooooome oooooooon! Look at your spelling for the sake of goodness.
1) Normally your ‘name’ gets capitalized.
2) Wow! Take a look at this senctence: “about how people are some how encroching.
– Somehow is one single word.
– Encroching is misspelled.
– You used the word ‘how’ too many times in that sentence. I won’t even go any further because your post is an orgasm of error. It just goes to show how dumb druggie legalizers are. Try running your post through a spell checker and then come on back.
Hey troll hunter! I mean AlansK. (What a twit). Ummmm, Even after just a few puffs of the demon weed, users are sitting around watchign static on the television, and thinking it is an episode of friends. Sorry, no-one is boinking each other on your static program. You’ll have to go and look for your hedonistic pleasures elsewhere.
Also, there is a very good SAMSHA study which shows that marijuana causes plenty of deaths. I just cant’ find it right now. But it says that significant percentages of people in morgues have reefer in their system at the time of death. So marijuana does cause deaths.
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. It is used by 76 percent of current illicit drug users. Approximately 59 percent of current illicit drug users consumed only marijuana, 17 percent used marijuana and another illicit drug, and the remaining 24 percent used an illicit drug but not marijuana in the past month. Therefore, about 41 percent of current illicit drug users in 2000 (an estimated 5.7 million Americans) use illicit drugs other than marijuana and hashish, with or without using marijuana as well.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2002, February 14). Summary of Findings from the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (Office of Applied Studies, NHSDA Series H-13 ed.) ( (SMA) 01-3549)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved September 26, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda/2knhsda/chapter2.htm
Hey Finn/English,
Since no one is proposing that we legalize driving under the influence, you’re SAMSHA information is irrelevant. I am however still waiting for you to cite evidence to back up your claim that marijuana is a “vile poison”. ,How much would it take to kill a person? How many deaths from marijuana overdose have been reported over the last 40 years? That number is zero isn’t it? And, if it makes you feel better about yourself, go ahead and throw in a few insults for me.
Hey Activist1. Please tell me how your pursuit of happiness is violated if I grow and use marijuana on my own property but remember you and your kids don’t have to come and visit.
John English said: “Normally, I would take the time to reply to the substance of what you have posted.”
What’re you talkin’ about you menace. You have got to be actually losing your marbles ‘dude’. When have you EVER addressed teh substance of anyone’s objection…..ever?!
Do you remember how you used to write about how ‘druggies’ are terrible parents? But then it came out that you have a son who either still in prison, or else spent several years there before getting out.
The cognitive dissonance which seems to define so much of who you are must be totally stunning. I mean, I bet if a person listens real good, that they could actually hear the synapses misfiring. Zzzzt, zzzzt, zzt. Hell! We could probably put you to some good use (finally) by setting your brain out on the back porch as a fly killer.
Good day to ya English.
Thanks for peddling what is essentially mid-1900s “reefer madness” imagery on a bunch of harmless medical weed smokers. As a blogworld wannabe you have no medical qualification or evidence to support your biased distortion of marijuana’s psychoactive or neurological effects. Let’s leave that speculation to the people with degrees, like doctors and researchers.
What this is an example of is behaviorist prejudice, or rather, an instance of one pathetic human’s attempt to culturally dominate/degrade a social group which has historically been without mainstream representation and under direct systematic oppression.
Thanks for trying to tell me what I should and should not put into my body, you cocky
I hope your self-affirming criminal justice wetdream of all stoners going to jail comes true so that group will emerge as hardened ultracriminals who, after manumission will teach you fascist monkeys a lesson in social oppression. Maybe in some ways it already has.
Thanks for blogging this post. It is such an awesome piece of work.
If god created the earth and everything in it. Then to say that somehow marijuana is wrong is to say that god was wrong. Why don’t you people spend time rallying and protesting against dangerous drugs that are marketed by the big companies. The real truth is if you took away marijuana kids would start somewhere else. Vicodin/oxycontin for example. The gateway argument is BS. Maybe lying to your kids about how dangerous marijuana is might be the trouble. What’s a kid to do when he finds out he was lied to about police,teachers,parents,government. Thats right continue experimentation to find out what else you lied about. The only real danger of marijuana is that it might hurt the stock price of big pharma and makers of synthetic products.
I hate it when people pick and choose what they like. The craziest thing marijuana users can be linked too is the American revolution. Yes thats right Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were both users and the insanity that it brought upon them caused them to get with their buddies and create democracy. So in short if you think god, Thomas jefferson, george washington were all wrong then marijuana is wrong too.
P.S Because of the illegal nature the reason kids start with pot is because alcohol is regulated and controlled which makes marijuana much easier to get. BTW those pills you think are going to save the world are easier for your kids to get then marijuana.
Almost forgot. The poppy plant that makes heroin can also make morphine. Truth is natural coca and poppys are harmless its man that twists them into vile narcotics. Where as marijuana is untainted by humans.
‘Dude’…… you are clueless. I’d like for all you ‘tea party republican think obama is a terrorist’ journalists to stop matter of factly writing articles about what you think you know but you don’t know because you are probablly sitting there killing your liver with a martini and calming your anxiety with valium and other pharmasuticles that could cause your skin to fall off or your heart to stop beating.
Yea there are alot of ‘patients’ out there hiding behind their medical marijuana card just to be legal with their pot use, but there is a big difference between a stoner and a patient.
If only this were about ‘Medical Alcohol’ boy wouldn’t you be fighting for your right to kill yourself, I mean get drunk. Now there’s your ‘vile poison’.
Oh and this really gets me: “For one thing, smoking pot in general is still illegal in Pontiac, as is possession of marijuana-related paraphernalia. The city has no plans to change any of these laws.” SERIOUSLY? Do you have any idea what you wrote here? Is Pontiac not in the State of Michigan? Or are you just saying in general, not being a patient, it’s ‘still illegal’? Because I’m sorry but if I am a legal patient and I live in Pontiac and choose to smoke or eat my meds and someone trys to arrest me or tell me I’m doing something illegal I would laugh in there face, or blow smoke in it and tell them to contact my lawyer. I wish instead of writing articles with such opinionated words that are written in such a surly fashion that these journalists would take their job more seriously and research their facts.
Don’t be a dick because you smoked pot when you were a teenager and puked in front of everyone and now you are scared from the laughing and pointing so you HATE MARIJUANA. That’s your opinion.
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