Nevada prosecutor accuses pro-marijuana group of using drug cartels for funding.

October 8, 2002 7:19 PM

Nevada prosecutor accuses pro-marijuana group of using drug cartels for funding. A prosecutor has suggested a drug cartel backs efforts to legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana in Nevada. But an advocate for the proposal says the statement is "an outright lie, slanderous and libelous." Billy Rogers, spokesman for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement (backed by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), adds that Gary Booker, a chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, "ought to have his mouth washed out with soap."
posted by botono9 (21 comments total)

There should be no reason why the drug cartel would support this. This doesn't make it legal to import marijuana from wherever they're trying to import it from. In fact with 3oz being legal I would think the price of marijuana would go down, hurting the cartel.

I also don't think they're organized like the mafia, where they would have a vested interest in politics.
posted by geoff. at 7:28 PM on October 8, 2002

Here is a link to the story without the word "marijuana" highlighted.
posted by Potsy at 7:38 PM on October 8, 2002

Slightly O/T:
The main gateway drugs [if we accept that there are 'gate way drugs'] for dope are alcohol & tobacco. What, I wonder, will we do about them [can we wean ourselves off the tax income?]

However, 'gateway theory' is not accepted by all researchers, anyway: "There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs."

Anyone with an ounce of sense can see that no organised crime cartel wants legalisation or decriminalisation. Whatever happened to 'give me freedom or give me death'?
posted by dash_slot- at 7:47 PM on October 8, 2002

Meanwhile, a setback for the pro-Cannabis lobby in the UK, where South London Police Commander Brian Paddick - alleged by a former boyfriend to have smoked joints with him - won't be returning to that beat.

Still, dopey old David Blunkett (Home Secretary) will probably go ahead with his plans to downgrade dope to a Class III substance [similar to misuse of prescription drugs] - not a serious offence in the UK.
posted by dash_slot- at 7:59 PM on October 8, 2002

Even if the drug is legalized, he said there would be a black market for it.

"A bad situation will only get worse," Murtha said.

How could there still be a black market if its legalized? What is this guy smoking?
posted by mrhappy at 9:02 PM on October 8, 2002

How could there still be a black market

I could be wrong, but I thought I understood the purposed law to mean that you could grow your own 3 oz, but people could not grow it to sell it... (If I am wrong, some one please let me know...)

Well, not every one has a green thumb.... So that means people will be growing it illegally to sell, 3 oz at a time....
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 9:12 PM on October 8, 2002

Poor saps, those dope dealers. Can you imagine the people that they have to put up with? The only thing worse that I could think of would be bartending. And even then you get to work set shifts and make good cash in tips.
posted by sp dinsmoor at 9:24 PM on October 8, 2002

I get annoyed every time I see the commercial that shows a teenager who just bought pot from a drug dealer, who got it from some cartel types, who killed a family who got in thier way, and the commercial blames it on the kid. The way that commercial *should* end is by showing congress and the senate and saying these are the people who cause all of this by keeping marijuanna prohibition alive.
posted by Eyegore at 9:39 PM on October 8, 2002

mrhappy: Cigarretes are legal and a black market exists. Tax avoidance.
posted by ttrendel at 11:12 PM on October 8, 2002

Just as long as we remember to "think of the children", and never question that it's all for the best. I hope these prosecutor's and legislator's have no loved ones in chronic pain. Shame on them all.
posted by spinifex at 11:14 PM on October 8, 2002

spinifex: A great forum for chronic pain sufferers is poppies.org. While the forums have been closed to new members for a very long while, I've gathered enough information from reading the posts on the site to be able to control my pain to an extent while minimizing addiction and tolerance.

For me, the side effects of marijuana far outweigh the analgesic benefits. Glad it helps some of the victims of the war on pain patients, though.
posted by bunnytricks at 12:02 AM on October 9, 2002

When legalization was on the ballot in Oregon ten or so years ago the largest contributors against it were the Tobacco and Liquor Lobbies. That Organized Crime siphoned off some of their money usually reserved for politicians and slipped it into the anti-legalization effort in Nevada would be closer to the truth.
posted by Mack Twain at 12:23 AM on October 9, 2002

Tom Murtha, director of substance abuse programs at the state prison, said 60 percent to 80 percent of the 10,000 inmates have had drugs problems and most of them tell you it started with marijuana.

This is incredibly irresponsible reporting. Talk about propaganda – 60% to 80% and most of them say it started with pot. What kind of statistics are those?! That could be as low as 31% for all we know. However, marijuana is a gateway drug, and will be until it is legalized because:

(1) Formal drug education teaches that marijuana, crack, and heroin are terrible, evil drugs. When teenagers try marijuana for the first time, they realize that it's not particularly unhealthy, not addictive, and really a pretty good time. The next logical assumption, at that age, may be that the other Schedule I drugs must not be so bad either. Thus the gateway.

(2) Because it's illegal, it forces otherwise law-abiding citizens to associate with dealers. Teenagers end up in places where coke and heroin are spread out on the table, when all they really want is pot. A little peer pressure goes a long way at that age, thus the gateway.

I encourage you all to see through smoke of anti-marijuana propaganda. Most of it can be completely disproven with a a little bit of your own research (take that to mean what you will).
posted by BirdD0g at 6:53 AM on October 9, 2002

Steve_at_Linnwood, a quick click on one of the links above reveals that the proposal, as well as decriminalizing possession, would

Require the state government to implement a system whereby adults could obtain marijuana through a legally regulated market, rather than from the criminal market.

So, yeah, you could be wrong. [/snark] The only "black market" would be if the lines got too long at the state-run store.
posted by ook at 8:07 AM on October 9, 2002

Right. And Al Capone was all for the lifting of prohibition.
posted by the fire you left me at 9:30 AM on October 9, 2002

...too long at the state-run store.

Or didn't want to pay tax on their weed...
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 9:59 AM on October 9, 2002

It will sure be nice when all the "old farts" that support Marijuana gateway drug theories realize, that they are the guy's that perscribe more drugs to young people than they can find on "the street". Everyone chill out and burn one. Legalize weed and put a lot of perscription drug companies out of business.
posted by Spaz_X at 10:17 AM on October 9, 2002

After listening to our crappy president this week, I think I can help parse this.
You see, drug cartels are EVIL.
Pot is EVIL.
The drug cartels 1st priority is to spread EVIL, making money at it is just an added benefit.

Life has become much easier for me now that I have purged all moral ambiguity and see things in crisp black and white.
posted by 2sheets at 10:38 AM on October 9, 2002

However, marijuana is a gateway drug, and will be until it is legalized because:

Another way it becomes a gateway drug is supply/price fluctuations. I live in an area with many small towns and price and availability of pot can vary greatly within very short periods of time (as can quality.) I know quite a few people whose first experiences with harder drugs were when pot was either practically unavailable or the price was very high due to supply problems. That's when they said to themselves, "maybe I'll get some meth/crack/horse just this once." Very few of those stories have happy endings...
posted by RevGreg at 10:41 AM on October 9, 2002

Meanwhile, in the state vs. feds battle over medical marijuana in California, this guy was just sentenced to 10 years in prison by a federal court.
posted by homunculus at 10:52 AM on October 9, 2002

Um, wouldn't drug cartels be against legalization since the government would get the profits (through taxes) instead of them? Well duh!

Another important Drug War news item that was ignored in the press recently:

Bob Barr and company crush democracy and free speech in D.C. yet again.

I hate to use the dreaded F-word but I must in this case: Fascism.

So much for self determination and common sense.
posted by mark13 at 10:54 AM on October 9, 2002