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Obama Admin Says It Won't Fight Looser Marijuana Laws, With Conditions

Posted by timothy on from the maybe-a-little-blow-when-you-could-afford-it dept.

schwit1 writes with news that the Obama administration has released a memo stating that it will not fight liberalized marijuana laws in states like Colorado and Washington, but made that promise conditional on a set of guidelines, such as requiring efforts to dissuade underage use. From the Washington Post's coverage: "Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole detailed the administration's new stance, even as he reiterated that marijuana remains illegal under federal law. The memo directs federal prosecutors to focus their resources on eight specific areas of enforcement, rather than targeting individual marijuana users, which even President Obama has acknowledged is not the best use of federal manpower. Those areas include preventing distribution of marijuana to minors, preventing the sale of pot to cartels and gangs, preventing sales to other states where the drug remains illegal under state law, and stopping the growing of marijuana on public lands."

5 of 526 comments (clear)

  1. Discouraging underage use? by cold+fjord · · Score: 5, Informative

    Maybe this is why?

    Is Marijuana a Safe Drug? Teenage Brain at Risk for Drug Abuse

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    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    1. Re:Discouraging underage use? by icebike · · Score: 5, Informative

      There was also a study of New Zealanders. They found that people who began using pot earlier in life and used it most frequently over the years experienced an average decline of eight IQ points by the time they turned 38. By comparison, those who never smoked pot had an average increase of one IQ point by the same age.

      A reanalysis of the New Zealand data by Ole Røgeberg of the Ragnar Frisch Center for Economic Research in Oslo, however, suggested that the IQ difference could be explained by socioeconomic factors. People who start smoking marijuana at an earlier age are often less intelligent to begin with.

      You will find most of the research is similarly tainted.

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      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    2. Re:Discouraging underage use? by lgw · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, they are statistical science. They say nothing about the behavior of individuals, but make useful predictions about the statistical distribution of behaviors in the population. Just like the gas laws, Zero Kelvin.

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      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  2. Re:The emperor has no clothes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, that is exactly what it does. If you think the executive has ever enforced all the laws on the book, you are a fool. The resources simply have never existed.

    It's just the highest level of prosecutorial discretion.

  3. Re:Yes, but what about banking? by PraiseBob · · Score: 5, Informative

    Also relevant: DEA bans Armored car services from picking up Pot Shop cash

    Step 1) Prevent credit cards from being used
    Step 2) Prevent armored car services from being used
    Step 3) Complain about the high number of robberies and crime that type of business "attracts" and use that as justification for more regulation / bans