Drug Policy Alliance director discusses legal cannabis in CO and WA

Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann discusses the legalization of marijuana with Trish Regan on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart."

• [millie fink]

  Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann discusses the legalization of marijuana with Trish Regan on Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart.”

  Um, yeah, so? Is there some particular reason we should take the time to watch it?

  • [Cowicide]

    Is there some particular reason we should take the time to watch it?

    More than a few…

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Nadelmann#Biography

• [imag]

  He did a great job of getting through talking points politely and cleanly.  It’s great to see this stuff in the mainstream.

• [spacedoggy]

  Interesting comparison to the overturn of prohibition following the great depression.
  Should be interesting to see how Colorado develops socially, economically and as a tourist destination as a result of this change.
  It’s worth mentioning that Amsterdam recently reversed changes to the law to restrict tourists from using the herb cafes.

  • [Eduardo de Oliveira Padoan]

    “It’s worth mentioning that Amsterdam recently reversed changes to the law to restrict tourists from using the herb cafes.”

    Not exactly, yet: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/30/dutch-amsterdam-weed-marijuana/1668761/

    • [spacedoggy]

      Yes exactly – from your own link:

      “…cities can bar foreigners from weed shops if they choose.”

      Amsterdam’s tourist economy depends heavily on cannabis, where other cities in the Netherlands would tend to hold a more conservative approach and would likely avail of this option of restricting tourists from cafes.

      My friend visited there 2 weekends back, blazed one up no bother.

      but hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good opinion.

      • [tevehimself]

        The law will come into force starting 2013 in Amsterdam, it has already been applied to the southern provinces this year.

        • [Itsumishi]

          No, the law has been dropped by the incoming government.

          http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/30/dutch-amsterdam-weed-marijuana/1668761/

• [perch]

  I live in Denver and pot has been very decriminalized for quite some time now. It’s a non-priority for the police. You can very easily buy good quality pot on the street, and you can smoke that pot more-or-less openly in our many wonderful parks. It’s difficult to walk around downtown during the summer and not catch a whiff of someone smoking.

  While this law is pretty exciting, at the moment it’s a bit anti-climactic because possessing and smoking pot in Denver is already no-big-deal. If/when the actual stores open that will sell to the general public (those who cannot afford the ~$200 medical weed card), I will call that a fun day.

  But really, as someone who is broke, the only thing that limits my pot consumption is my lack of money, not any sort of legal or social barrier.

  That’s my own personal experience in this city, anyhow.

  EDIT: Also, I would absolutely qualify for a medical marijuana card, but simply cannot afford it.

  • [TooGoodToCheck]

    I think you could now legally grow your own, no?  Up to six plants I think

  • [Cowicide]

    That’s my own personal experience in this city, anyhow.

    Yeah, in the summer you can walk around Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and stumble upon strangers playing board games in their front yards and sometimes get politely offered a hit of some pot in broad daylight (like you would with beer).  Many of the Denver cops I talk to love that they don’t have to waste their time bothering with it.

  • [MileHighBroheem]

    I agree. MJ has been legalish for a while. Since the world hasn’t come to an end I guess people decided to just legalize completely, it’s not gonna hurt anything.

    To be honest it confused me when other legalization initiatives didn’t pass, like the one in California a couple years back. It seemed like the stoner crowd had gotten a decent voting alliance.

  • [thecleaninglady]

    Makes sense for such law to pass in a place where the public is ready for it. Thus, “unofficial” decriminalization before the official one shows the long-term shift in public opinion which is then followed by the law.

  • [dragonfrog]

    It’s not just possession, and the benefits apply to people who don’t even use pot.

    It’s a big deal that the money people pay for pot may soon be feeding an industry with employers paying taxes, workers earning living wages and benefit packages, “hostile takeovers” involving stock buyouts rather than shootouts, and workplaces that are regularly inspected rather than grow-op workers surrounded by armed thugs, in rented houses that are death-traps from mold, sketchy electrics, and haphazardly applied agro-chemicals, bankrupting landlords every six months when the damage is discovered.

    It’s a big deal if it means you’re less likely to be woken up to the sound of a SWAT team shooting your dog in the next room, because they thought your house contained a grow op, because the screw-on number plate by the front door came loose and made it look like 509 instead of 506.

    • [MileHighBroheem]

      Good points.

• [Jen Onymous]

  About freaking TIME. Legalize it, tax it, etc.  As noted earlier, I no smokey the whacky tabaccy myself; can’t.  However, I fully support the right of others to enjoy responsibly.  

• [knoxblox]

  *Secretly soooo jealous in Kansas*

• [Russ Van Rooy]

  Seattle, Wa is similar. Walking near the intersection of Pike & third the other day I smelled cannabis in the air. WA has had legal medical marijuana since the 1980s. It should be pretty much of a no-brainer to get the commercial pot business started. It will be expensive pot at first. It will be taxed at least three times – the grower, the distributor, and the buyer. Choose the Indica for a mellower buzz.

  • [Incipient Madness]

    Indica for a mellower buzz? There is an indica/sativa hybrid common in SE Texas that is the huge intense shit. I mean intense. Smoke the $80/ounce ditch weed that is better than the $40/oz 80′s ditch, then smoke a little of the hybrid hydro at a much higher price, and you are out there.

    But can’t the Feds reaction be to still bust up pot going in or out of Colorado while leaving the home grown to the states?

    • [Ianto_Jones]

      Another benefit to legalization and regulation is that maybe we will start to have some industry-wide standardization in the categories and strengths of the various types of weed.  That way you always pretty much know what you are getting, and how powerful of a high it’s going to be.  Heck maybe they can even start listing the amount of THC on the side of your pack of joints, just like they list the amount of alcohol on the side of most alcoholic beverages.

• [Ace Foley]

  Weed will be legal everywhere soon! I can’t wait and I was happy to read this. [evil smile]
  Well, if you can’t smoke the ‘illegal’, then I’d like to point out that I run a legal highs review site. We are HONEST and DETAILED. We’ll tell you where to get it too!
  Check us out, we even have pages on not getting busted!
  Ace @ uIntoxicate.com
  http://uintoxicate.com/