Breaking Political News

By Adam Cohen Wednesday, Oct. 06, 2010
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Next month, Californians will vote on Proposition 19: the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. Prop 19 would make recreational use of marijuana entirely legal — and allow cash-strapped cities to raise funds by taxing it. Completely legalizing pot may sound like a radical idea, but not to the people who are actually going to decide: the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll found that 52% of likely voters support Prop 19, with just 41% who oppose it. (See pictures of cannabis conventions in California and Colorado.)

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One of the main arguments for rethinking marijuana laws is economic. A new study by the libertarian Cato Institute found that turning cannabis into a regulated commodity would save $8.7 billion in law-enforcement costs annually, while generating $8.7 billion in revenue.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2023860,00.html?xid=huffpo-direct

JWAZ - It is ridiculous that this plant is illegal and tobacco is legal if we are strictly going by a harm philosophy for legality.

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In the Talmud of the Jewish tradition, the sage Hillel said: What is hateful to you, do not do to others. This is the whole of the Law; all the rest is commentary.

In the Hindu legend of the Mahabharata, the divine Krishna declared:
This is the sum of duty: Do nothing unto others which would cause you pain
if done to you.

In the Gospel of Matthew in the Christian scriptures, the messiah Jesus says:
Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

In the Buddhist text of the Udanavarga, the student is urged:
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

In the Muslim Hadith of al Nawawi, the prophet Mohammed teaches:
No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he
desires for himself.

In the T'ai Shang treatise of Taoism, the seeker is instructed:
Regard your neighbor's gain as your gain, and your neighbor's loss as your
own loss.

In the ancient wisdom of Shinto there is a saying: The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.

The Oglala Lakota spiritual leader Black Elk wrote:
All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves.

Tobacco and alcohol are legal simply because the potential backlash is humongous.

As with all freedoms "granted" by the state, unless it is #1 priority (basically something you would riot for) you aren't getting it. What a great system.

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