Should marijuana be legal?

Monkey Man · **Joined:** Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:12 pm **Posts:** 131

NWI senator seeks marijuana study

INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana's marijuana laws would be the subject of a legislative study with an eye toward possible legalization under a measure introduced Tuesday by state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes.

Senate Bill 192 directs the General Assembly's Sentencing Policy Study Committee to examine marijuana criminal sentencing policy, possession laws, medical use and other issues and make recommendations the legislature could act on in 2012.

"We're putting the marijuana issue on the table," Tallian said. "This bill starts the conversation in Indiana."

Tallian said marijuana possession cases cost the state millions of dollars annually for police arrests, court prosecutions, jail time, treatment and probation supervision. More than 10,000 Hoosiers a year are charged with marijuana possession.

"We have limited amounts of tax dollars, and the public has told us stop spending money," Tallian said. "So I think we need to examine now if we want to spend our tax dollars on marijuana arrests or on public education. Do we want to spend it on marijuana arrests or infrastructure?"

"We need to talk about this," she said.

Indiana's current marijuana laws are among the most punitive in the nation.

Possession of a single marijuana cigarette can result in one year in prison and a $5,000 fine. A person possessing more than 1 ounce of marijuana, enough for about 30 marijuana cigarettes, can be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

"I'm tired of seeing people thrown in jail for what I think is something that's the equivalent of alcohol," Tallian said.

Tallian said she's been promised a Senate committee hearing on her legislation setting up the marijuana study, likely in February.

Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has endorsed separate legislation moving through the General Assembly that is intended to save the state money by sentencing low-level felony offenders to community corrections programs rather than prison. That legislation does not directly address Indiana marijuana issues.

:lol:

chuckmo48 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 30, 2011 6:35 pm

Roll another one...just like the other one!

Monkey Man · **Joined:** Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:12 pm **Posts:** 131

Indiana Senate votes for marijuana study

By Dan Carden dan.carden@nwi.com, (317) 637-9078 | Posted: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 4:40 pm

INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana's state senators want to talk about marijuana.

The Senate voted 28-21 Tuesday to create a study committee that would examine the costs of strict marijuana enforcement in the state and consider possible routes toward legalization.

State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, is sponsor of Senate Bill 192, which now goes to the House. She said 15 states already permit medical use of marijuana while 12 states have largely decriminalized the drug.

"This is not cutting-edge stuff," Tallian said.

Indiana's current marijuana laws are among the most punitive in the nation.

Possession of a single marijuana cigarette can result in one year in prison and a $5,000 fine. A person possessing more than 1 ounce of marijuana, enough for about 30 marijuana cigarettes, can be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

"Can we afford to keep spending millions of dollars on this?" Tallian asked.

If enacted, the General Assembly's Sentencing Policy Study Committee will examine marijuana criminal sentencing policy, possession laws, medical use and other issues, and make recommendations the Legislature could act on in 2012.

:smt007

-={ARCLIGHT}=- · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2011 5:31 pm

Feds threaten Washington state governor over pending medical marijuana bill

Monkey Man · **Joined:** Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:12 pm **Posts:** 131

Region state senator leads charge for reform of Ind. marijuana laws

Business leaders asking government to stop interfering in their work is a common occurrence at the Statehouse, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly usually is eager to remove obstacles impeding entrepreneurship.

But when that business is marijuana, the lawmakers who normally would do just about anything to help -- and claim credit for new jobs and tax revenue -- disappear.

That's why state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, is eager for Thursday's meeting of the legislature's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee because the state's marijuana laws finally will get a thorough review.

"You can't believe the number of people that have called me and wanted to testify or help me in some way," said Tallian, who persuaded lawmakers this past spring to authorize the study.

Expected to speak are supporters of industrial hemp production and medicinal marijuana use and Hoosiers who believe it's best to legalize and tax the drug.

Tallian wants legislators to consider changing Indiana's marijuana sentencing laws, which are among the toughest in the nation.

"I want to see what people are willing to do," Tallian said. "We at least need to stop messing over people's lives and stop putting our children in jail for smoking pot."

Currently, possession of any marijuana is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

A second offense or possession of more than 30 grams, enough for about 30 to 40 marijuana cigarettes, is a felony, with a potential prison sentence of three years. A person caught holding 10 pounds or more faces up to eight years in prison.

Tallian said a survey this year of her constituents in Lake and Porter counties found 96 percent want the state's marijuana laws changed, as 30 other states recently have done.

One roadblock to reform might be a man who was arrested in 1970 after police found enough marijuana in his Princeton University dorm room to fill two shoe boxes -- Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Daniels eventually pleaded guilty to maintaining a common nuisance and was fined $350. Under current Indiana law, he likely would face a multiyear prison sentence.

But when asked based on his own experiences whether Indiana's marijuana laws ought to be changed, Daniels said, "Not in my view."

In the end, Tallian and Daniels might end up working together.

The Republican governor wants all criminal sentences changed to save money by reducing short prison terms and placing nonviolent criminals in community or home detention programs.

Tallian thinks changing the state's marijuana laws fits that agenda perfectly but said she's well aware of the challenges of making that happen.

"What I think and what I think I can get through are two different things," she said.

-={ARCLIGHT}=- · **Posted:** Sat Aug 27, 2011 4:42 pm

Regionite · **Joined:** Tue Sep 14, 2010 4:06 am **Posts:** 698

I'm voting yes because the so-called war on drugs is a costly waste of time as it targets pot & cocaine but does little to actually curb drug smuggling or use. Like with prohibition make it legal and the gangsters stop getting rich.

karent · **Joined:** Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:33 pm **Posts:** 1408

Then it's regulated and taxed.

Regionite · **Joined:** Tue Sep 14, 2010 4:06 am **Posts:** 698

karent wrote:

Then it's regulated and taxed.

So regulate it to make it safe and create positive revenue from it as opposed to blowing $billions "fighting" it? That makes too much sense. And knowing it was mainly made illegal because the beer brewers feared it was a competitive alternative to beer helps you realize who's deep pockets are strongly opposed to legalization.

-={ARCLIGHT}=- · **Posted:** Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:57 pm

Study: Closing marijuana dispensaries increased crime... Washington Post - A new study showed that when hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries were closed last year in Los Angeles crime rates rose in surrounding neighborhoods, challenging claims made by law enforcement

-={ARCLIGHT}=- · **Posted:** Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:28 pm

Is Legalizing Weed Obama's Secret Weapon?
Associated Press
Elspeth Reeve 46,647 Views 3:39 PM ET

Quote:

In 2004 George W. Bush's re-election campaign worked to put anti-gay marriage ballot initiatives up for vote in several swing states in order to turn out more hard-core conservatives to the polls. This year the question is whether marijuana legalization measures will turn out young voters for Obama.

Bush's plan to use gay marriage bans -- in states that did not actually allow gay marriage -- as a turnout booster led to signs featuring icky public restroom symbols proliferated and liberal panic that the Christian right had taken over. The press obsessed over "values voters." One of Bush's aides, Ken Mehlman, who later came out as gay himself, has apologized for the strategy, two others say it didn't work.

This year there's another incumbent president with modest approval ratings who could turn out his base with controversial ballot measures. But this time, the issue features no biblical or scatological imagery. In 2012, voters in swing states will decide whether they'll allow their fellow citizens to bear joints. Unlike the gay marriage votes, there's no indication that Obama's re-election team is behind any of the pot legalization initiatives, but there are Democrats who are hoping that it will boost turnout among weed's biggest fans: young people.

Getting more young people to vote has long been a Democratic fantasy, since they tend to vote so heavily Democratic. But past attempts to bong the vote have been disappointing, in part because stoners aren't the group anyone would most count on to bother filling out a ballot. Ahead of the 2010 midterms, The Wall Street Journal ran the story, "Democrats Look to Cultivate Pot Vote in 2012," noting that California's pot-legalizing Proposition 19 was being studied to see if similar measures "could energize young, liberal voters in swing states for the 2012 presidential election." But exit polls that year showed no spike in young voter turnout, and marijuana legalization was the top issue for just 1 in 10 voters, the Los Angeles Times reported. (Also: Californians ended up voting down Prop. 19.) Still, there were hopeful signs: 64 percent of voters 18-to-24 supported it, and 52 percent of voters 25-to-29 did. In March, the pro-legalization site Just Say Now suggested that the presidential election will draw more young people to the polls, and they'll vote for pot legalization while they're there.

That being said, several have argued that this could be the year for pro-marijuana turnout. After all, 2011 was the first year more young people smoked pot than cigarettes, the CDC says. There is a marijuana initiative on the ballot in Washington, and there might be one in Nebraska and Massachusetts, but those states are pretty solid for one party or the other. Here's our guide to whether pot politics could make an impact in the swing states considering new marijuana rules:

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