California downgrades marijuana possession from misdemeanour to infraction

[bit_pattern]

Go Arnie! Now just stop opposing decriminalisation

Marijuana Possession in California Reduced from Misdemeanor to Minor Infraction
By Leader Staff. Published on 10/02/2010 - 10:24am

In California, possessing up to an ounce of marijuana is now no more serious than getting a speeding ticket. Late Thursday evening, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that reduces the possession of an ounce or less from a misdemeanor to an infraction with a maximum punishment of a $100 fine.

After signing Senate Bill 1449 that he doesn't support decriminalization of marijuana, but that the bill would save courts money. He said:

"Prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket."

 

[WildCat]

Go Arnie! Now just stop opposing decriminalisation

That was decriminalization.

Decriminalization ≠ legalization.

 

[Cleon]

That was decriminalization.

Decriminalization ≠ legalization.

Well, it effectively decriminalized it for personal use, but doesn't affect laws about selling or growing.

 

[Brattus]

Dude! That Rrr....... Hey man! Did you see the one show l........Got any more of that s+++?..................Dude That Roc.....Oh yeah....I already said th.......Where's that one game?.......Hey man! You got any more of tha................

 

[Cain]

So we're not totally screwed up but pot is for pussies. Legalize meth!

 

[PellyDforscience]

So we're not totally screwed up but pot is for pussies. Legalize meth!

Meth does WAY more damage than pot, thats not funny. Meth production creates a biohazard, while growhouses dont.

 

[bikerdruid]

a good step in the right direction.

 

[Cain]

Meth does WAY more damage than pot, thats not funny. Meth production creates a biohazard, while growhouses dont.

Pussy.

 

[HumanityBlues]

I think it's great to decriminalize marijuana, and the policy reason to "save money" is a good one. Now if Arnold just had the balls to tax the **** out of it and make money for the State of California, that would be great too.

 

[bikerdruid]

I think it's great to decriminalize marijuana, and the policy reason to "save money" is a good one. Now if Arnold just had the balls to tax the **** out of it and make money for the State of California, that would be great too.

decriminalizing is not the answer.
it is still illegal to grow and sell.
one still deals with criminals when buying pot.
it must be legalized so that one can grow their own.

 

[Praktik]

what about the children?? Won't someone please think of the children??

 

[WildCat]

it must be legalized so that one can grow their own.

But then they can't "tax the **** out of it".

 

[Trakar]

Meth does WAY more damage than pot, thats not funny. Meth production creates a biohazard, while growhouses dont.

Illegal grows can and do cause environmental harm, though bluesky grows tend to be worse than grow house harms.

Meth (and most of its cousin bumping analogs) is(are) legal, with the proper diagnosis and prescription. Big difference between legal and illegal production and distribution.

 

[jiggeryqua]

But then they can't "tax the **** out of it".

In the UK at least, it is legal to brew your own beer, ferment your own wine and grow your own tobacco. Nevertheless, most users prefer to buy reliable quality products from established suppliers. The government taxes the **** out of them.

 

[godofpie]

Pussy.

QFT
People should not be limited in the ways that they can hurt themselves ingesting things. Meth is not a bio hazard if you do it right.

 

[WildCat]

In the UK at least, it is legal to brew your own beer, ferment your own wine and grow your own tobacco. Nevertheless, most users prefer to buy reliable quality products from established suppliers. The government taxes the **** out of them.

Good luck brewing your own beer for much cheaper than you can buy craft beer at the store, same with wine. These things have a huge economy of scale, which is why the **** can be taxed out of it yet it's still an inexpensive product. And the problem with growing tobacco for most smokers is the huge amount of space it requires, which most smokers do not have.

If you want to grow tobacco to make your own cigarettes or pipe tobacco, you should have an area at least 8 meters by 1 meter. This will be enough to grow approximately fifty tobacco plants, which will allow you to make about 5000 or more cigarettes.

http://www.rusticgirls.com/gardening/growing-tobacco.html

A pack a day smoker would need twice that.

Under Prop 19 you get to have 25ft² to grow your own, which is all you'd need for personal use.

 

[jiggeryqua]

Good luck brewing your own beer for much cheaper than you can buy craft beer at the store, same with wine. These things have a huge economy of scale, which is why the **** can be taxed out of it yet it's still an inexpensive product. And the problem with growing tobacco for most smokers is the huge amount of space it requires, which most smokers do not have.

Well that was rather my point - in response to bikerdruid's assertion that people should be allowed to grow their own (itself a response to HumanityBlue's hope that Arnie would have "the balls to tax the **** out of it") , you said that [if people could grow their own] Arnie wouldn't be able to "tax the **** out of it".

So again, in that context, I say that while it is legal in the UK to brew your own beer etc, most people don't, for all manner of reasons, some of which you have highlighted. I don't brew my own or grow my own, but I was hoping you'd appreciate that you can have it both ways - some people might indeed grow their own, some people might even start the equivalent of artisan- or micro-breweries (increasingly popular in the UK and elsewhere), but chances are most buyers will be going to a convenient store to pick up state-approved substances which the state "taxes the **** out of".

Among the reasons people do, for example, brew their own beer or ferment their own wine are the opportunity to tailor the taste, the satisfaction of creating something yourself, the use of a local glut of ingredients etc. People will sometimes do those things even if it is cheaper to pop to the store and buy some mass-produced generic product - just as I'd rather eat well, by growing my own vegetables and cooking my own meals, than go to a fast-food outlet and eat cheaply.

 

[timhau]

what about the children?? Won't someone please think of the children??

Why, is there some reason why they can't go and get their own weed?

 

[Praktik]

ha!

 

[WildCat]

Well that was rather my point - in response to bikerdruid's assertion that people should be allowed to grow their own (itself a response to HumanityBlue's hope that Arnie would have "the balls to tax the **** out of it") , you said that [if people could grow their own] Arnie wouldn't be able to "tax the **** out of it".

So again, in that context, I say that while it is legal in the UK to brew your own beer etc, most people don't, for all manner of reasons, some of which you have highlighted. I don't brew my own or grow my own, but I was hoping you'd appreciate that you can have it both ways - some people might indeed grow their own, some people might even start the equivalent of artisan- or micro-breweries (increasingly popular in the UK and elsewhere), but chances are most buyers will be going to a convenient store to pick up state-approved substances which the state "taxes the **** out of".

Among the reasons people do, for example, brew their own beer or ferment their own wine are the opportunity to tailor the taste, the satisfaction of creating something yourself, the use of a local glut of ingredients etc. People will sometimes do those things even if it is cheaper to pop to the store and buy some mass-produced generic product - just as I'd rather eat well, by growing my own vegetables and cooking my own meals, than go to a fast-food outlet and eat cheaply.

My point flew right over your head - commercially produced beer and wine are inexpensive products. But those advocating "taxing the ****" out of marijuana envision the retail price to be similar to the black market price now, which wouldn't be sustainable at all.

It's much, much easier to grow marijuana than brewing your own beer, or making wine.