Third-party debate (Johnson, Stein, Goode, Anderson) tonight (Sunday) at 7:30 pm Eastern Busboys and Poets.
The debate will be moderated by Ralph Nader, and will focus on subjects and issues that have largely been ignored or avoided, as they are too controversial, by the 2012 Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.
Not clear whether it’s being live-streamed, but they do have a live-stream option on the site.
Final Presidential debate (Johnson and Stein) will be tomorrow (Monday) at 9 pm Eastern through Free and Equal
Free and Equal is proud to host the final US presidential debate between Libertarian Party candidate Gov. Gary Johnson and the Green Party’s Jill Stein. The two will go head-to-head and discuss foreign policy live from RT’s Washington, DC studio on Monday, November 5th. Voters can catch the show-down live on at FreeandEqual.org/live or on Voice of Russia at 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
You can submit a question at the site if you wish.
Gary Johnson’s Closing Statement in Ohio: “Vote for the Person You Believe in”
Will Colorado Marijuana Legalization Measure help Mitt Romney at the polls?
Predictions by Intrade on referenda (as of the time of this post):
- Colorado Marijuana legalization: 72%
- Washington Marijuana legalization: 87.5%
- Oregon Measure 80: 20%
Remember that this is market-based prediction, not polling data.
Latest poll in Washington
53 percent say they support Initiative 502, while 44 percent remain opposed to the proposal, according to the poll.
The U.S. Votes for Change – a nice overview of the three main marijuana initiatives in the U.S. from our Transform friends in the UK.
Hit Mexico’s Cartels with Legalization – NY Times
Of course, residents of Colorado and Washington will have many valid local reasons to make their choices. But on the issue of organized crime, the underlying fact should be clear: Legal marijuana will take away dollars that pay for assassins and redirect them to small businesses and government coffers.
Meet the Three Coloradans Who May Legalize Marijuana – at Boston.com
Watch LIVE Election Night 2012 Coverage on Pot TV
http://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2012/10/30/Watch-LIVE-Election-Night-2012-Coverage-Pot-TV
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I know it was put up in last thread,,but just in case anyone missed it.
If you’re in Colorado or Washington, those inTrade numbers should be encouraging but they should NOT make you complacent. If you’re in Oregon, that 20% figure should give you hope. That is very much a fighting chance. If you haven’t already voted absentee, make sure you know where your polling station is and plan to vote as early as you can. Pester your family and friends and anyone else you know who supports reform and remind them to vote. Better yet, make plans to take them with you to the polls. And if you have friends, family members, co-workers, etc. and you don’t know where they stand, ask them! This is your last chance to change their minds. The mere fact that you are reading this blog right now means that you are better informed on drug policy issues than 99% of Americans. YOU have the potential to be a very powerful agent for change. Don’t waste it!
Been seeing a lot of people and orgs signing on supporting OR 80,,it may help them carry it off,,and 3 states at one time could sure take a big chunk of that wall down.
the powers that be may be working real hard to ignore us but everybody else seems to be hearing us just fine. I’m impressed with our pressure this election (and it’s been awhile since I’ve felt that way). It’s like the Prohibs are trying to play the UO Ducks (we’re the Ducks!) and just can’t keep up with our offensive tempo.
Go Ducks!
There’s something really hopeful about seeing that many people vote for the amendments with their wallets.
From the NYT article: “Their motive is to capture the profits that are so high because in the black market you can buy drugs for a nickel and sell them for a dollar. How many others would love to be in a business with a markup of more than 2,000 percent?”
It’s not just the money–it’s the illegality. If you make the trade illegal, then people who don’t care about laws will control the trade. And when the trade is controlled by criminals, the ones who are less constrained by notions of common decency will simply kill or scare off the rest.
doesn’t that count as one of those life being far stranger than fiction moments:
in the 21st Century US of A we have only two places to watch the 3rd parties’ debates and one is a Russian website…
The controlled media teevee reality show that is the Presidential Election actually had the Green Party candidates arrested for daring to try to participate in the “debate”.
Controlled media, meaningless election “debates” that ignore any real issues, secret government, and unlimited military and detention spending. How do you like your fascism now?
As under Bush II, so under Obama I – only more.
http://www.ancd.org.au/images/PDF/LatestNews/DirectorKerlikowske_address.pdf
Droopy dog is being sent my way.
The people of Oz ought to grill him, not on the barbie, but in Parliament, as to why there’s had to be nine DrugCzars so far and counting; can’t the US get it right?
Why should Aussie’s pay any mind to a country that has what amounts to an embarrassing Organization for National Drug Control Failure? One whose former heads should slink away in ignominy rather than shamelessly, publicly tout their erstwhile employer’s ‘drug control’ failures…which they presided over?
I’d sooner ask for advice about a happy sex life from a celibate priest than how to have an drug control policy from such as the DrugCzars…
So, Strayan…you goin’?
just go ahead and keep it… please…
I’m sorry for bringing up Kevin Sabet, but on the other hand the weakness of his case should serve as mood enhancer, so… Kevin on The Fix: Weed Should Be Illegal.
I suppose you can guess what the comments to this one are like.
if the tobacco and alcohol industries are in favor of legalization as kevin says why have the spent so much on lobbying against drug reform laws?
“If things were different, they’d be exactly the same.” ~~ Kevin Sabet
Looks like the Boston Globe is stupid.
Medical marijuana raises too many unanswered issues
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2012/10/30/vote-question-medical-marijuana-raises-too-many-unanswered-issues/MBcpjWccYowOdh56JD90GL/story.html
this is the lte I sent in to them:
That is good, I like that.
I actually got the link from Radley Balko. His title is “Reminder: The Media Isn’t Liberal, It’s Statist”.
Really nice lte Allen. Succinct and well argued. So much wrong with that editorial. It basically rests on the argument that the states shouldn’t do anything until the Feds reschedule marijuana.
“For which conditions, in particular, is marijuana effective at stopping pain? The law doesn’t say; doctors are free to decide.”
And the problem with doctors and patients deciding what is effective in stopping pain or treating any other condition? How would the law be able to determine someone’s level of pain (relief)?
“How much of a dosage is adequate?”
Ummm, you smoke until you get the desired effect and then stop. Its not like you can overdose.
“…with supplies invariably finding their way to kids.”
Really? The save the kids from the horrors of pot argument? As has been shown over and over, the kids have no trouble getting pot.
“a drug that hasn’t been subjected to the federal approval process.”
People need MMJ now. It is outrageous that sick people are denied medicine that could possibly help them. It would take years for the feds to approve MMJ, unless of course its produced by big pharma in a pill form (its not like anything that comes in a pill could ever be toxic, drugs in pills are good, drugs in plants are bad).
I still can’t help but feel that all these arguments over MMJ just take away attention from the bigger picture. If people could go to a pharmacy and actually buy drugs, all drugs including things like antibiotics, people, with the advice of their doctors and pharmacists, would be free to decide for themselves what works for their medical problems.
This stripe of pr4scription is known to doctors and pharmacists as a Pro Re Nata (PRN) prescription. It’s not like a PRN prescription is something new. It’s been around so long that it’s name is in a language dead for centuries and centuries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_re_nata
It’s also a bald faced lie that there’s no such thing as a regulated dose. Every joint that the Feds send to the few remaining participants in the Compassionated Investigational New Drugs program is identical in weight and THC content. Now, I’m not certain that I think that’s a good thing. The idiots that run the UMiss cannabis farm extract the THC from the cannabis. Then they figure out how many joints that they can make according to their specs and treat as much of the now stripped vegetable matter in order to achieve that uniform potency. But that’s typical bureaucratic thinking, now isn’t it? Who cares if it’s needed, these people feel compelled to be anal retentive.
Oh if you’re wondering they use liquid CO2 to extract. Does any get into the atmosphere and contribute to changing our climate? With only a handful of patients involved it’s almost certainly not a concern but if we insisted that all medicinal cannabis achieve that goal of uniformity would most certainly be a concern if done for every patient that can actually benefit from medicinal cannabis.
But the entire concept is simple minded stupidity. This particular argument is nothing more than an argument of form over substance.
Anytime someone says they can’t approve of medical marijuana because cannabis is “a drug that hasn’t been subjected to the federal approval process†it’s a sure sign they are ignorant of federal stonewalling of cannabis research.
But the point is ultimately trivial: St. John’s Wort has undergone no such process, yet no one would care that I made a tincture from last year’s wild flowers in my yard. Perhaps Schedule I is not the place for herbs, wot?
Who be they to dictate the path of my journey.
You get bonus points from me for the excellent adjective, “pustulent.”
tanx!
That rocked!
That was bad, even for Kev.
That was the editorial board of the B.G., Freeman. When you see an editorial w/o a byline it can usually be assumed to be the opinion of the publisher.
Oh, you were responding to Ohtum. My bad.
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Not specifically on topic, but they’ve really gotten my head spinning with this particular vote. In Maryland we get to vote up or down for casino gambling. I’ve thought this over extensively and quite frankly I don’t give a shit one way or the other. Is legalizing roulette equivalent to legalizing heroin? I’m definitely OK with the thought that the absolute prohibition of gambling is just as bad of an idea as the absolute prohibition of (some) drugs but with the lottery and slot machines legal that just isn’t the case. Right now it certainly looks like I’m going to leave that one blank.
I have a lovely Casino just up the road. Interesting thing about that. For starters, I still have all my money. I didn’t immediately become a gambling addict, looking to pawn my wife’s jewelery to win back my lost stake. It hasn’t corrupted the kiddies….no back alley craps games with street urchins preying on each other for me to break up, either.
Now as with many casinos, the province of the money that went to finance it, the people involved, etc. were/are…erm….questionable. But that is the way we’ve set it up in this country, so it’s institutional, and not the fault of the tribe.
It has created jobs, and has helped the Lummi tribe (one of the poorest First Nations peoples in these here United States) to survive this recession in a way fishing never could have. And the best Steak House in three counties is in there. So overall I’d call gambling an overwhelming positive, at least up here. It’s been pretty good to us. http://www.silverreefcasino.com/
I’d vote yes. As with drugs, the question is not “legalization.” The question is prohibition, the use of government force to prohibit voluntary exchanges between consenting adults. And as with drugs, the fact that a minority of adults will use their freedom in self-destructive ways is not a good argument for restricting everyone’s freedom.
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It isn’t that I have concerns about it. It’s more accurate to say that I just don’t give a shit one way or the other. It actually might be valuable to cannabis law reform to figure out how to get me to care, because getting the people who feel about cannabis law reform as I do about casino gambling to support our goal would likely change the entire scenario.
Don’t try to get me with government income because I know that money is fungible. Send all the money gained by the government to “education” and the other money currently used for education gets used for other lines in the budget. That and the politicians will promptly spend $1.25 for every dollar collected anyway. This year, then next year they’ll spend $1.33 the year after and then 1.47 etc, etc, like that.
Well, sounds like you HAVE decided, you just don’t know it yet.
If you really don’t care, shouldn’t the default position be to ALLOW rather than to DISALLOW?
Exactly,dc, the default position in this country SHOULD ALWAYS be whatever promotes the greatest freedom for the most people.
Yes we should legalize heroin. Why? To justify the prohibition of heroin you must demonstrate that heroin is significantly more toxic than currently legal drugs, namely tobacco and alcohol. (False-opiates are not toxic at all, although like alcohol and most other drugs you can overdo it and die). AND that the prohibition of heroin is the best way to mitigate these harms.
Yes a clinic system of opiate dispension would be better than the current WO(s)D, BUT it is not the answer. There is no reason why opiate dependent persons should have to register with the state and submit to the authority of the medical establishment (pharmacracy) for us to get what we need. How would MMJ people feel if they had to go to a clinic daily (or 2-3 times daily) and be supervised while you dose?
In the Empire state encourage Governor Coumo’s efforts at the polls to help bring momentum for the legislature to support of genuine reform in our great state.
In can happen here.
On November 1, 2012, the Russians implemented a new Internet blocking system, called ‘Single Register’. For all intents and purposes, it eliminates free speech on websites. Putin’s pocketed judges are cracking down with online bans on political extremists and opponents of the Putin regime as well. Chances are good the Single Register is designed to filter or alter discussions about legalizing illicit drugs.
How can they justify this, you ask? Ostensibly, it’s all about protecting the little children from pedophiles….
So. The eve of the big day. After tomorrow I fully expect marijuana to be legal in the State of Washington. The questions are in this order…where’s the election parties at?
And: What next? This opens up a whole new can of worms, doesn’t it? We will with out a doubt see, there’s a whole shoe store waiting to drop. And what about our next battleground? Where to next?
I suppose some of you might be looking at destinations in Washington for your next vacation. I was joking with my wife last night about the possibility of opening a “Bud and Breakfast”. Seems like it could be a winner.
Just some idle nonsense. Please disregard my mostly rhetorical questions. Have a great “the day before we legalize”.
I was just thinking about planning a trip to WA ( CO too if A-64 passes ). Even though I am not a cannabis user I would like to use my tourism dollars as support of reform.
darkcycle – even if Sarich is right and all we’ll get out of this is decriminalization of less than an ounce for everybody, and a stupid presumptive dui law, this is still a step in the right direction.
I think opening a Marijuana Store as described in the initiative is not going to last long – the feds will not permit it, in their authoritarian eagerness to suppress the will of the people with maximum destruction of constitutional freedoms and restraint of trade. In service to monopoly capitalist special interests.
Not that this is all bad, as it keeps the feds out of any meaningful regulation of the market, and therefore we are free to continue our little unregulated cottage industry.
Your federal government, brought to you by Monsanto, big cotton, big oil, GE, and the alcohol industry! What’s good for them better be good for us or we go to jail!
diva,,being able to walk around with an ounce of marijuana(that has no serial #s or barcode),a bag full of cookies and a bottle of cannabis soda is a little bit more than decriminalization,,,,,
Oh, this is bigger than de-crim. This is a thumb in the eye of the Federal prohibition of Cannabis. And it’s the start of more thumbs.
G.W. Pharma must be pooping blue bricks right about now. The monopoly they were looking forward to looks to be dissolving right before their eyes.
ABC news has a good piece on I-502. I wouldn’t even link to it, but it’s the MSM. Color me shocked.
http://tinyurl.com/bu7zedg
Here is a pic that I liked for election day-
http://tinyurl.com/aav3wvo
It’s my 37th birthday today, and I feel giddy like a child over the legalization initiatives being decided today, especially those in Washington and Colorado. I’m not an American, but I still feel that today will be a historical turning point that will bring the end of the WoSD measurably closer.
Thanks, guys.
The initiatives are minefields with very clearly printed signs, daring the Feds to enter…and they do so at their own risk.
It’s no accident that the majority of MMJ States are in the West, where Federal stewardship over the vast tracts of land it claims has been anything but popular. This next step is leading to a showdown of monumental proportions.
For decades, the Feds have been able to get away with their interpretation of ‘federalism’, not the textbook definition of it, thanks to the so-called ‘drug exceptions’ to the Bill of Rights – which have only the thinnest of Constitutional justifications.
When the States challenge the Feds, it will force the federalism issue in a way that will cause no small degree of heartburn, not only in the ONDCP/DEA/FDA iron triangle, but it could also find its’ way to the Supremes, and even those rabid big-government believers would have to admit they’ve been boxed in by the popular will.
As the ancient Chinese curse goes, “May you live in ‘interesting’ times”. ‘Interesting’ as in war, natural disasters, financial crises, etc. It’s about to get very ‘interesting’…for the prohibs, for once.
One more thing: What’s coming has been coming for a long time, and as anyone knows, pent-up pressure is often released explosively. Our time has been coming for decades, and here it is. Today is make or break. If there’s any Fed chicanery during or after the votes, the Feds are on notice that a Constitutional Convention is in the offering…and they would have both the responsibility for it and will pay its’ historical price. The decades long dam of anger and frustration is about to burst. If they want to stand in the way of that multi-ton pressure backlog, with all the commensurate FURY that it contains, ALL OVER SOMETHING AS COMPARATIVELY INNOCUOUS AS CANNABIS, Upsetting their carefully constructed statist apple cart, by all means, gents, help yourselves.
Get your Blue Peter bong right here!
http://www.livestream.com/pottvnetwork