Facebook Billionaire Gives Money To Legalize Marijuana

Aldenissin writes "Dustin Moskovitz confirmed that he has recently given (an additional) $50,000 in support of Proposition 19, which is seeking to legalize marijuana in California this November. He had previously donated $20,000 to supporters of the act, which would allow people 21 years old or older to possess, cultivate or transport cannabis for personal use and would permit local governments to regulate and tax commercial production and sale of the substance. Asked for a comment as to why he's backing the legalization of marijuana, Moskovitz just sent this statement: 'More than any other initiative out there, Prop 19 will stabilize our national security and bolster our state economy. It will alleviate unnecessary overcrowding of non-violent offenders in our state jails, which in turn will help California residents.' An irony here is that about a month ago, Facebook refused to take FireDogLake's 'Just Say Now' pro-cannabis law reform ads."

Comments

Re:At first I wondered...

[couchslug]

Prohibition made the Mob massive amounts of money.

It also taught total disrespect for the law because the Volstead Act was unworthy of a free people. The laws against and campaign against marijuana are similarly the product of Puritanical nonsense and worthy of even more contempt since cannabis is vastly less socially toxic than alcohol.
(Booze-related domestic violence is common, while weed-related violence is quite rare even with tens of millions of smokers in the US alone.)

So not that acquainted with the street then?

[Sycraft-fu]

Here's a hint: Weed is way easier for kids to buy than alcohol. Alcohol is only sold in stores and restaurants. The bootleggers have basically vanished. Even with the taxes, you just can't compete with Safeway. Well, turns out the stores aren't willing to sell to kids. They get plenty of sales legally to adults and do not at all need the heat they get from underage sales. So they check ID. Makes it hard for a kid to get it, without an adult accomplice.

Pot though? Drug dealers don't check ID. They sell to anyone who's got the cash. They are already breaking the law, they don't give a shit if it is your kid. What's more, they'll even market to kids. They need to try and find every customer they can, since they have to keep things underground. Means they'll target anyone who looks likely.

You legalize pot, kids will have a much harder time getting their hands on it. Won't be impossible, of course, they can get an adult to buy it for them as they do with alcohol. However it'll be harder than it is now.

Oh and PS: "Think of the children," arguments are bullshit. It is an attempt to appeal to emotion, rather than use logic.

Re:WTF?

[russotto]

The drug trade's pretty violent right now, and the theory is that legalizing marijuana will undercut the cartels, forcing them to calm down and act like legitimate businesspeople instead of terrorists.

Key word, of course, is "act". If it becomes bad for business to act like terrorists, they likely will cease doing so, even if they're the same sociopathic thugs they've always been. They're not ideologically or religiously motivated, after all; they're just in it for money.

I have my doubts about this theory (it's not like the 21st Amendment magically got rid of organized crime in the U.S.), but it's not WTF-worthy.

We had drugs just about ready and waiting for organized crime to move into. Get rid of drug laws (by which I mean legalizing use and sale for all the major categories of recreational drugs, including opiates, cocaine, and amphetamines, and keeping any taxes on same reasonable) and you'll push organized crime back to their roots as protection rackets and smugglers. Which won't eliminate them but should reduce their reach.

Re:Mixed messages

[discord5]

realizing that one of the smartest and most productive people I knew was a recreational pot smoker certainly changed my viewpoint on the drug.

I have several similar stories: productive people casually smoking pot for recreational purposes and still being responsible people. I've got a few very dissimilar stories as well and it wasn't very pretty to see. I've seen a guy lose himself in drug use looking for the next high, waking up at 8 in the morning and lighting up a joint, and over the years working himself up to various other drugs that are not as harmless. A guy I used to work with lit up on the way to work every single day, so he wasn't a very dependable person. He would atypically also get fits of rage whenever he didn't get what he wanted. I think the coworker I mention here had some psychological problems, perhaps amplified by the drug use, perhaps not... I'm not an expert on the subject.

I don't buy that whole "gateway drug" thing. I know too many people who've smoked pot and never once tried something else. Like most things, I think it depends on the user on how they use the drug and how well balanced they are. From what I have observed alcohol has more devastating effects on people than pot, but that argument seems to open up a can of worms best left closed.

I live in a country next to The Netherlands and the "drug problem" has evolved to the point where the effects of usage are no longer the main problem, but the fact that foreigners are buying drugs and causing the locals grief with all the traffic has become the main issue on the agenda. This has led to various public figures from both governments clashing, and if I'm not mistaken there's a strong push in the Netherlands for a system where you have to prove your identity when purchasing pot. I would argue that if this is the most worrisome issue with people using pot the whole thing has pretty much become a farce, but leave it to politicians to make matters more complicated than they need be.

And to conclude, something mildly entertaining: the effect of drugs on spiders.

Re:So *that* is how it works...

[Surt]

We need smarter, more dedicated voters and objectively assembled, well reported journalism.

And since that's not going to happen no matter how much money you invest in that goal, what would you like to do instead?

(Seriously, unless you're prepared to suspend freedom of religion in this country, sufficiently smart voters won't happen even if you invest 100% of our state and federal dollars in education).