420 Policies and Laws

[Crow]

Last Thursday I got drunk with some Russians downtown and took the 358 Aurora express (public bus) home. Some dude was smoking a joint as he was boarding the bus and driver yelled PUT IT OUT!! NOW!! Well that didn't even matter because people were smoking weed ON the bus. Granted, it was the 358 and it was legalization day. Since then I have seen lots of public smoking, and may have even been involved in some of these activities myself. Hey, I was running two minutes late this morning and didn't have time to get chiefed before I went to the bus stop. Its a six minute walk, so what the hell.

At least you got a little something in return.

Blatant public use is a concern, but as you mentioned (legalisation just took effect that day).. So, the Police is being lenient for the time being when it comes to public consumption (giving people a warning not to use in public [especially in a blatant fashion]). This won't be an ongoing dilemma, I can assure you. Consumers will mellow out, and it will be just another typical day in Seattle

Here's a tip..... Look at the street people and how they consume alcohol: Discreet.

[Roo]

Here's a tip..... Look at the street people and how they consume alcohol: Discreet.

Lol i take your meaning but I work in Pioneer Square and I don't easily employ the word "discretion" in the context of public intoxication. Nor do I practice it

that's a lie. I'm actually quite good at it.

[GoVegan]

Last Thursday I got drunk with some Russians downtown and took the 358 Aurora express (public bus) home. Some dude was smoking a joint as he was boarding the bus and driver yelled PUT IT OUT!! NOW!! Well that didn't even matter because people were smoking weed ON the bus. Granted, it was the 358 and it was legalization day. Since then I have seen lots of public smoking, and may have even been involved in some of these activities myself. Hey, I was running two minutes late this morning and didn't have time to get chiefed before I went to the bus stop. Its a six minute walk, so what the hell.

Light up a cigarette instead of a joint and I guarantee people will be up your arse about it.

[Bigblue1]

Light up a cigarette instead of a joing and I guarantee people will be up your arse about it.

That's understandable. Seeing how modern day cigs are a concoction of terrible chemicals that hardly bare any resemblance to anything natural. Whereas marijauna is completely natural and I doubt any one is smoking 20 + joings a day and get out of the house.....

[Crow]

Obama won't go after legal pot users in Washington, Colorado

President Obama says he won't go after Washington state and Colorado for legalizing marijuana.

WASHINGTON —

In an interview with ABC News, President Obama told Barbara Walters that recreational pot smoking in states that have legalized the drug is not a major concern for his administration.

"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama said of marijuana smokers in Colorado and Washington, the two states where recreational use is now legal under state law, but where uncertainty remained over how the federal government would view the matter.

"It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal," he said.

Under Obama, the Drug Enforcement Administration has aggressively gone after medical marijuana dispensaries in California, where they are legal. In September, federal officials raided several Los Angeles shops and sent warnings to many more.

"This is a tough problem, because Congress has not yet changed the law," Obama told Walters of the legalization in Colorado and Washington. "I head up the executive branch; we're supposed to be carrying out laws. And so what we're going to need to have is a conversation about, how do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it's legal?"

Backers of new laws that legalized marijuana in Washington and Colorado were cautiously optimistic after President Barack Obama said Uncle Sam wouldn't pursue pot users in those states.

Following the November votes in Washington and Colorado the Justice Department reiterated that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but had been vague about what its specific response would be.

Marijuana activists were relieved at Obama's comments, but had questions about how regulation will work. They said even if individual users aren't charged with crimes, marijuana producers and sellers could be subject to prosecution, civil forfeiture and other legal roadblocks.

Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech Wednesday that he would announce a policy on the new state laws "relatively soon."

The president, who smoked pot often in high school, told Walters that he does not support general legalization "at this point." It's the same position he's taken throughout his political career, despite his own history.

"There are a bunch of things I did that I regret when I was a kid," Obama told Walters. "My attitude is, substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society."

Material from The Associated Press was also used in the report.

Source

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Supplemental Video

[Ansel]

[Joe234]

Obama on Marijuana Laws: We Have "Bigger Fish to Fry"

President Obama says federal law enforcement agencies have "bigger fish to fry" than to go after marijuana users in Colorado and Washington, the two states that legalized the drug's use in November.

http://www.bet.com/news/politics/201...-priority.html

[OregonNative]

Amen! Thanks for the post Cascadian brother.

I couldn't agree with Obama more. Go after meth, it's the real threat to our communities.

[crullers]

Wow, politicians making sense. How refreshing!

[Crow]

There's a reason we have a cannabis thread

http://www.snuson.com/forum/showthre...l=1#post495051

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Thanks for sharing anyways, Joe

[GoVegan]

"We have bigger fish to fry" seems like an elusive answer to me.

[Crow]

[Crow]

Statement from Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s largest marijuana policy reform organization and the primary funder of the successful Colorado initiative:

"The president has acknowledged that it should not be a priority of the federal government to arrest marijuana users. The only question left is whether these users should purchase marijuana in a state-regulated market or from drug cartels. The people of Colorado and Washington clearly expressed their desire for a regulated market.

"Now it is time for those states and the Obama administration to determine how to work together to advance that state-based system without frustrating legitimate federal interests. We look forward to having this conversation with White House and Department of Justice officials."

[Crow]

[Ansel]

Vaporizing it should be legal all around the World. As for smoking it i'm not so sure.