Why Is Pot Not Legal In The US?
- Thread starter ChemPharmExpert
- Start date
HighonLife
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- May 3, 2009
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^^ive heard nothing bout virginia legalizing it
it was on the ballots in oregon but that failied
it was on the ballots in oregon but that failied
MyDoorsAreOpen
Bluelight Crew
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- Aug 20, 2003
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Because pot users and growers are easy pickings for law enforcement officers. It's a simple predator-prey relationship.
We have a glut of cops in the US, which is the unforeseen legacy of the "get tough on crime" approach of the 90s. Violent and property crime are now down, but the all the extra cops are still hired, and their paychecks need to be justified somehow. So they go after soft targets, particularly traffic rule violators and drug users. Ever since my arrest in 2006, I have kept a close eye out for cops every time I've driven. I have not had a single local drive since then, when I have not seen at least one cop car on patrol. On my 30 mile drive to work each day, I see at least 4 or 5 each direction.
I'd like to see some figures. I'd bet there are a lot of small local police departments and municipal courts -- maybe even whole towns -- that count on fines for marijuana arrests for keeping their expense books in the black. I wouldn't discount the possibility of back room, closed door meetings where police officers discuss strategies for how to locate and catch more pot smokers, fueled by the looming threat of budget or staffing cuts if they don't make arrest quotas.
The history of how marijuana became illegal in the US is a familiar tale to most people here, and doesn't bear retelling. (It's easily found by Google in numerous FAQs, if you're not familiar with it.) The bottom line is the same one for anything related to homosexuality, and is a basic and unpleasant fact about politics and group behavior: Most people don't sympathize with people who do things that they could never see themselves doing, no matter the activity or the reason. The drive to use recreational drugs, even marijuana, is something most Americans just don't relate to, because they have no taste for trying new ways to bend their consciousness, and can't understand people who do. They may not deep down care what others' tastes are. But they certainly won't court controversy or put their reputations on the line for doers of a deed they just don't get. Hence the prevailing inertia in American marijuana policy.
We have a glut of cops in the US, which is the unforeseen legacy of the "get tough on crime" approach of the 90s. Violent and property crime are now down, but the all the extra cops are still hired, and their paychecks need to be justified somehow. So they go after soft targets, particularly traffic rule violators and drug users. Ever since my arrest in 2006, I have kept a close eye out for cops every time I've driven. I have not had a single local drive since then, when I have not seen at least one cop car on patrol. On my 30 mile drive to work each day, I see at least 4 or 5 each direction.
I'd like to see some figures. I'd bet there are a lot of small local police departments and municipal courts -- maybe even whole towns -- that count on fines for marijuana arrests for keeping their expense books in the black. I wouldn't discount the possibility of back room, closed door meetings where police officers discuss strategies for how to locate and catch more pot smokers, fueled by the looming threat of budget or staffing cuts if they don't make arrest quotas.
The history of how marijuana became illegal in the US is a familiar tale to most people here, and doesn't bear retelling. (It's easily found by Google in numerous FAQs, if you're not familiar with it.) The bottom line is the same one for anything related to homosexuality, and is a basic and unpleasant fact about politics and group behavior: Most people don't sympathize with people who do things that they could never see themselves doing, no matter the activity or the reason. The drive to use recreational drugs, even marijuana, is something most Americans just don't relate to, because they have no taste for trying new ways to bend their consciousness, and can't understand people who do. They may not deep down care what others' tastes are. But they certainly won't court controversy or put their reputations on the line for doers of a deed they just don't get. Hence the prevailing inertia in American marijuana policy.