Nebraska, by the way, has had one of the nation's most liberal laws on pot for decade: it is an infraction to possess less than an ounce in the Cornhusker State, carrying a fine of $100. In terms of the penalty, that's far less than a ticket for minor in possession of alcohol, and on par with your average speeding ticket.
I ran the numbers for 2014, year to date (January 1 through April 15). Then I did the same time period in previous years. There are Incident Reports classified as drug cases, that include the word "marijuana." The results seem to bear out my theory.
12 comments:
Tom, How do you really feel about the legalization of pot? Or can you publicly give your opinion? Thank you.
Let the good times roll...
It could be that arrests are going up, but the "numbers" are getting smaller.
Why do we continue to outlaw marijuana when it can help so many of us with chronic pain and many other health issues? It's everywhere already for those who want it, why aren't we that could benefit from it's medicinal value added into the equation?
If we legalize marijuana, won't we be putting potentially dangerous drug dealers out of dollars?
We have a pretty significant gang problem in Lincoln that is growing more rapidly than before.
We actually have had gang problems in Lincoln for a very long time.
I was on the board for MAD DADS with Rev. Donald Coleman when I had a child involved and know the truth about the activity in Lincoln. My child got into these activities starting at Lincoln Christian School in the parking lot. Yes, the last place I would have thought it could happen. That was over 18 years ago.
Those who are uninformed and speak with no experience on these issues have no idea what a SMALL problem marijuana is comapared to what's probably happening in a neighborhood not so far from where they live!!
Let's take a look at Guns before we go any further....
But if we take away their pot income, do you suppose they'll go out and find legit work? I don't think so. They'll just move on to bigger drugs or robberies and such. I've seen young men who could barely remember their name when they'd been doing weed, as opposed to the productive guy I usually worked with. Guns can be a problem, but I am very much against gun control. I learned to shoot at a very young age, and think education is important in handling this problem.
No, drug dealers aren't in the drug business; they're in the contraband business. Legalize drugs, and drug dealers will just adapt to another type of contraband, perhaps bootlegging untaxed drugs. They might even move into another type of lucrative criminal activity.
If you want to get high without risk of arrest, job loss, or other such things, just say so, but don't resort to that tired old tactic of reducing crime by legalizing an intoxicant as a justification for legalization. Alcohol is legal, controlled, and taxed, but look at how often it's related to so many crimes.
7:19,
My opinion is this: I'm glad we are not Colorado. I am very happy to let some other states experiment with this. Anyone who thinks that legalization would reduce the load on law enforcement fails to consider the huge load that alcohol regulation imposes: underage drinking, illegal sales, DWI, and so forth I expect the the same problems with marijuana, plus the additional problem of illegal bootleg production/sales to avoid the taxes. Let a few other states deal with this, and we can evaluate their experience later, before deciding whether we want to go down that road in Nebraska.
Don't you think that pot is a less dangerous drug than alcohol in terms of spouse abuse, DUI, child neglect and other crimes? I have never seen an angry pot smoker.
Making pot legal may have some benefits financially for the state, but it won't make many of the problems with pot go away. An angry pot smoker? Maybe not when he's high, but how about when he's not and he can't get his next joint? I don't know many people who could actually afford to buy pot at the prices I've seen, unless of course they resort to criminal activity for their money, or simply steal the pot from someone. This happens, I'm sure, whether it is legal or not.
As for gun control; that's pretty much an oxymoron. The guns that need controlling are in the hands of the bad guys, and laws are not going to change that. The only good gun control is keeping your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot.
10:38,
1. I don't know. That's why I'm perfectly happy letting Colorado and Washington find out. I suppose when its as common as beer and tequila, we'll know more about these impacts.
2. I've seen plenty of angry pot smokers. Although I'm not proposing it is a direct cause and effect, marijuana is the second most common drug (after alcohol) found in the urine of people booked into jail--about half of those arrested tested positive for marijuana in the five cities that make up the sample set for the most recent Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program annual report.
You're so right about gun control, Steve.I wish there were a way to do away with marijuana AND alcohol, but we know that won't work. I used to drink a little, but gave that up when I got my first drivers license at age 40. Can't say I've missed it, either. Just seems a shame that people can't have a good time without all this stuff. Don't know what the answer is, but there is surely one out there someplace.
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