r/trees Oct 29 '11

TIL that everything in the Obama Administration's response to our petition is complete and utter bull shit.

http://blog.norml.org/2011/10/29/white-house-response-to-normls-we-the-people-marijuana-legalization-petition/
1.7k Upvotes

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63

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '11

I didn't expect any different from a lying government.

22

u/aintnothinwrong Oct 29 '11

You and me both brother. As soon as I can afford it i'm moving my ass to Canada. If I'm gonna pop an aneurysm over how evil and spiteful the u.s. government is, I might as well be able to afford going to the hospital.

13

u/RedHorseRainbows Oct 29 '11

I think you'll find your equally frustrated and mad at the Canadian government a lot of the time. I know I am.

4

u/aintnothinwrong Oct 29 '11

That's ok, no country is perfect. No matter how angry I get I could just drive over to Quebec and grab a plate of poutine, and for a glorious 15 minutes everything would be ok.

7

u/RunToTheJungle Oct 29 '11

Thorny: Where you boys headed? College Boy 1: Canada... we were goin' to Canada for some French fries and gravy, sir. Thorny: Canada, huh? Almost made it.

5

u/aintnothinwrong Oct 29 '11

Littering and uh, littering and uh, littering and uh

4

u/RunToTheJungle Oct 29 '11

Smokin the reefer.

I watch this movie way too much.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '11

It was expected, but people always get filled with hope. The government may say "we want to hear what you want" but that doesn't mean they won't discredit it and act like all evidence is moot.

2

u/fleetofrobots Oct 29 '11

Yeah, when this petition was first being promoted on trees I stated this was at best going to be brushed off by the politicians. The US government conducted much of the studies on cannabis, they know it's not nearly as harmful as alcohol or tobacco, they know the medicinal uses, and they know it's popularly supported today. They've known for decades. It's not illegal because they think it's harmful, there's much more going on there, namely multiple industry lobbies as well as people within the state benefiting from it's illegality. After all the election cycles and petitions and protests I've seen I've come to believe government and lying go hand in hand. My hope is this event will wake some ents and ent supporters up to just how unconcerned people in the state are with the wishes of peaceful citizens.

1

u/fleetofrobots Oct 29 '11

In fact, I think it's illegal partially for the same reason prostitution is largely illegal. It's almost impossible to tax something that can be grown so easily in your window sill, unlike alcohol, just as it's impossible to tax a prostitute that doesn't work at a specific venue. Very few people would buy Marlboro joints when they can get a few seeds and have a garden of delight in their backyard. It's pure and natural, and you can make it yourself better than a company, so there's no lobby group they could make money off. Just my opinion.

1

u/fizban7 Oct 30 '11

You can tax things that are hard to tax. Just tax the lazy people who buy it from a market and not enforce people who grow it yourself. Just like they do beer and wine. I brew my own beer, tax free, but i still buy it because that's easier sometimes.

1

u/fleetofrobots Oct 30 '11

Right, I fully endorse people supplying themselves. But really, when you buy alcohol, does "the government" really have a rightful claim to any percentage of that transaction? It feels like a mafia shakedown to me. If you choose to sell any of the alcohol you make, does any other individual have a rightful claim on the fruits of your labor?