Marijuana Blog

Voters in Colorado, Oregon and Washington could pass measures tomorrow that would potentially cripple Mexico's drug cartels.

 

Sari Horwitz of Washington Post reports that the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's oldest and most powerful, is selling a record amount of heroin and methamphetamine in Chicago as it takes its burgeoning marijuana trade to the next level.

 

But Amendment 64 in Colorado and I-502 in Washington—both of which currently have a majority of support among likely voters—could change all of that by making marijuana legal for persons 21-years-old and older while taxing it under a tightly regulated system similar to that for controlling hard alcohol.

 

The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), a Mexico City think-tank, published a report detailing how legalization at the state level could sink cartel revenues from drug trafficking because "one or more states could meet most of its domestic demand with domestic production."

 

Since the quality of U.S.-grown marijuana is much better than Mexico-grown, the IMCO figures that domestic bud from Colorado, Oregon or Washington would be cheaper everywhere in the country besides near the border.

 

 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com

During his two terms as New Mexico governor, Gary Johnson was best known for two things: vetoing nearly half of the bills that reached his desk and advocating for marijuana legalization.

 

Now, as the Libertarian candidate for president and man of the hour for bereft, Johnson is angling to become forever known as the Ralph Nader of 2012 -- the third-party spoiler who ruined Al Gore's chance at the White House. 

 

Republicans have to date appeared most fearful of Johnson: GOP operatives sued to keep him off of the ballot in some states, and the media's run with the risk-to-Romney storyline. But in swing state Colorado, Johnson's campaign is running robocalls that call out President Barack Obama for allowing his Justice Department to shut down state-legal cannabis dispensaries. This is a move aimed at liberals and the youth, both of who will vote on a marijuana legalization measure Tuesday.

 

Johnson's been on point across the country, in speeches and in interviews, claiming a vote for Obama or Romney is a wasted vote. More liberal than Obama on civil liberties and more conservative than Romney on the budget, Johnson doesn't care who wins tomorrow. Either way, the American public will know how similar the two mainstream parties are, he says.

 

This narrative hits medical marijuana supporters hard. After all, it was Obama who promised on the campaign trail that he'd respect states' rights on medical marijuana -- a promised echoed by Attorney General Eric Holder until federal prosecutors started shutting down countless cannabis dispensaries in California, Colorado, Montana, Michigan, and elsewhere.

 

Read more: http://blogs.sfweekly.com

Some of the more intriguing initiatives on state ballots Tuesday involve marijuana.

 

While 17 states and Washington, D.C., allow marijuana use for medical purposes, none have yet sanctioned use of pot for recreational use. But that could all change Tuesday, when voters in Colorado, Oregon and Washington will vote on measures that would allow residents to possess and use marijuana.

 

Could this actually happen? According to the polling numbers, the answer is, well, maybe.  According to the USA Today:

 

Independent polls have shown proponents leading in Washington and Colorado a month or more before the election, but the outcome remains in doubt, and both sides are aware of what happened in California in 2010: The similar Proposition 19 lost 53.5% to 46.5% after an early lead in favor disappeared.

 

The Oregon measure, meanwhile, appears to face a harder climb.

 

The ramifications of a “yes” vote in any of the three states could be fascinating. For starters, federal law still bans the use of recreational marijuana.

 

So, theoretically, you could see federal authorities marching on Seattle, Boulder or Eugene to round up tokers while state authorities stand aside.

 

(An at least equally plausible scenario: the federal government right away sues to stop the initiative from taking effect — and the whole thing gets held up pending review by a federal appeals court — or possibly the U.S. Supreme Court.)

 

Another imponderable: to what degree would one of these states instantly become a tourist destination for those looking to partake, without fear of legal reprisal. According to this USA Today story, not everyone thinks legalization would lead to a boom in tourist dollars.

 

 

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com