No change in marijuana laws coming, White House says

[RainDog]

121. I've wondered about this too

as in... at what point is it worthless for the feds to continue doing what they're doing when states simply ignore them because they're too corrupt, apparently, to change bad law that denies funding for certain groups?

the idea with state-by-state legalization is that this action puts pressure on states that keep the old law on the books because they will lose revenue as people in their state drive to a nearby legal one and spend their disposable income on hotels, stores, nightlife, museums and so on in those other states.

even if marijuana does not bring in the tax revenue anticipated, the revenue from neighboring states would put pressure on those neighboring states to change their laws to gain back some of this lost income.

this relates to the idea that Richard Florida talked about - that people in growth sectors of the job market, educated people, etc. etc. choose, whenever possible, to live in areas that are more liberal in attitude and action - until costs drive out the artists and musicians that made a place attractive in the first place. it's harder for states to attract businesses when the people they want to work for them don't want to live in those states. I know a lot of people who would never apply for jobs in some states, simply because the govt. is so regressive.

Only a decade, DECADE after DC passed it mmj bill, Congress finally appropriated funds to enact the law. The first dispensary in Washington DC opened not long ago.

This has prompted one lawyer to claim that Congress has, in essence, legalized medical marijuana in every state because of the equal protection clause. I hope this is one route marijuana activists will pursue.

It would be great to give Congress an "out" to say... oops. Because some people in this nation will never get past reefer madness. If they lack the political courage to do the right thing, outright, they could at least do the right thing and then pretend they didn't mean to. lol.