MPP's Aaron Houston on Russia Today 05/19/2009

[everythingeco]

The US is manufacturing criminals with pot. Many otherwise law abiding, tax paying citizens have become criminals and are to associate with criminals because of pot prohibition. These "criminals" are then pushed into a prison system where tax payers pay 20,000+ per year for each individual.

Give us a safe, regulated, and taxed place to buy our pot and we certainly won't be meddling with dangerous criminals, even if it does cost slightly more. Would be interesting statistics to follow anyway.

[oeufgwoieu]

this guy is good

[killoskate13]

Why ISN'T this on american news?

[st4ticblu3]

I just realized how insane it is that I know get more of a truth from Russian news than US news.

All our news does these days is sit around and make fun of people like they are all teenagers.

[TheSkinzilla]

You're totally correct. Do some research. America is ranked 36th or lower in Freedom of the Press rankings worldwide. It's time for the people to start holding their feet to the fire, or it will continue to be more of the same, or get even worse.

[woogie88888]

You know, if it were legal I would never again have any dealings with the underworld ever again I hate that the gestapo (D.E.A.) treats us as criminals when most of us love pot but hate having to go get it more than anything.

[TheLostRepublic]

Once someone has been face to face with a crack/meth head, or someone tripping on something like PCP or datura, you no longer see marijuana as a drug.

i see a trend amongst drug users in the area i live in and it is that if a person is drug tested on a regular basis they will tend to use harder drugs because the body finds absolutely no use for them and metabolizes them as fast as possible, rather than smoking marijuana which stays in your system for a longer period of time.

[wakeborder711]

I am completely for the legalization of marijuana, but I have speculation of the statistic of over 100 million people have used it in America.

[Fujimoto420]

What's really humorous are the numbers they're always throwing out on how many smokers there are currently, and if it is legalized just how many more people will start smoking. They're afraid that number will go up.

The fact is, the smokers are already there! Not everyone wants to tell a government run survey, "yeah I smoke something illegal." But you can be sure, we will be coming out of the woodwork when it's legalized, and it will be.

[ericbeyer1]

i smoke weed and i subscribe to mpptv on youtube and all, but these guys keep on throwing out statistics about how marijuana is the country's largest cash crop but thats because it's illegal. if it were legalized, you would get a lot more weed for less money and therefore people would spend less money and it would not in fact be bigger than wheat and corn

[ComingSoon1984]

If it were legalized double the number of people will smoke it, and people will be able to smoke it more often since it's cheaper and easy to access

[Clyaton]

We could only hope that it would have such an affect. The more people smoke, the less they tend to drink... Drinking gets you in trouble much easier my very common DUI and 2 MIC's show that. Once was for .0003, yea, ass holes... Most likely though, the numbers would maybe slightly increase and the usage at best would increase within those who already used before

[atcaleb]

MIC???

[modwolfonyayo]

Not really, in the Netherlands where its legal, they have the 2nd lowest percentage of use of Marijuana in europe among its citizens, and here, in Portugal, where its decriminalized, we have the lowest numbers of users in europe (don't know about the rest of the world).

Prohibition does not work.

Remember Adam and Eve?

The forbiden fruit is the most wanted ;)

[owenjamesmorgan]

That would be great. That means there would be double the sensible, smart, motivated, ecofriendly people there would be. LEGALIZE! TELL YOUR LEGISLATURES NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANGE!

[cubanmisslecrisis23]

people would buy from farmers instead of mexican drug cartels so they would make more money.

[odom602]

I don't get it, their idea on taxing it is 50$ an ounce, does that mean 50$ more than street price? if that's the case, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, screw it if it's legal or not, try to catch me ridin dirty pigs.

[WSUDonnelly]

No, not $50 over what it costs now. By having the government grow it in massive quantities the price to produce it goes way down and you don't have the astronomical mark up by the current drug dealers. Even with the $50 tax it would be way cheaper to get.

[ConnorBonnor80]

why the fuck does that lady keep saying "meruana"

ANNOUNCIATE YOUR WORDS BITCH

[ericbeyer1]

she's russiain...hence the name russia today

[Skudzzz]

And the term is 'enunciate' , not 'announciate.'

[readingislife]

legalize weed for all people over 21. it would fix the entire economy

[ericbeyer1]

18, the government shouldn't be able to put age restrictions over the legal adult age

[industrialhemprocks]

RE-REGULATE industrial hemp!!!!!!

[QuietBullet]

This does nothing for medical marijuana. They refused to here it. Anyone remember the Ashcroft v. Raich? Again this does nothing. Until they take the case before them and vote in our favor, don't get your hopes up

[RedEyes123420]

It doesn't do anything as far as nationwide legalization goes, but now since San Diego and San Bernardino counties have their cases rejected they now have no choice but to comply with state law and start producing state issued ID cards for MMJ patients.

[Shroctopus]

UHHH UHH UHHH. What a flashback to my old public school speeches. there was this girl that said um in her speech every other word i remember making fun of her.

[AngusMcSpuds]

i didn't notice the uhs until reading comments. the gal does quite a bit of it, too.

i prefer the uhs to 'like' every-other-like-third-word-li­ke.

okay, the uhs have it, but Mr. Houston works tirelessly at spreading the message.

he has to chase down, hang out with, and shake hands with politicians. they use that sound, too. 'uh'.

only vote for candidates that believe prohibition is wrong, and will clearly state it.

he's asking those questions every day in DC.

one 'uh' at a time

[dukeoforegon]

Cannabis can cure some forms of cancer,

Cannabis is a miracle plant.

[12elis]

it can't cure some forms of cancer?! what are you talking about? it can help treat some forms of cancer though.

[bendtx]

Yo kids, stop paying doctors to get your card when you don't even need it, I have sclerosis and all my doctors recommend is oxycontin and all that bullshit, please stop ruining it for the rest of us.

[mattspot2]

DAMN medical....

I could get that if i wanted..

I would rather be able to farm it for Tax and Regulated sales to boost or economy, buy all the by products you can produce with the plants and not only the buds.. I love the buds.. but we need the plants also..

[lifesblood]

uhhh if uhhh i uhh can uhhhh get uh you uhhhh to uhhhm....

Someone downed way to much prozac and sleeping pills before she went on.

[PhilTHC]

Uuuuuuuhhhhh

[bofana]

BRING BACK ROB KAMPIA WOOOOO!!!

[dinkybird1992]

could uh she uh try uh to uh get uh her uh story uh straight?

its fucking annoying when people dont have their words thought before it comes out of their mouths

[Alytoner]

Really good discussion, only think that made me kinda annoyed was the "uhh"ing.

[Tradethinker]

But Obama does that... Well he is a bit more artful with it :)

[thefakeyeti]

"Jesus christ, if you are going to be a speaker, for fuck sakes try to get out of that habit of saying uh..

Now I can understand if you(he) is tired"

I was about to hit post comment, than decided to see if anyone else held the same uh.. opinion.

It makes it appear that he is thinking about it way too much, and it isn't simply flowing out effortlessly

Honestly, I had to stop the video because it was getting to me THAT much (Maybe that is going over board)

[IJSquad]

the only reason why its not legal is because of of the yellow painted street signs in maryland

[XxCHIRICOxX]

legalize this motherfuckin shit, fuck medical mjane i want it fuckin legalized no mother fuckin questions fuckin asked! fuck you anti mother fuckers

[Tmac1Rockets1]

he did a really good job. he seemed really confident answering the questions & his answers were good!

[greenboy215]

Decriminalize Drugs and open clinics for people with addiction. Jails turns people into criminals, not Drugs!

[CliveSinclairZX]

legalize freedom

[rabidfoxsavior]

I never took this survey so add me to that number!

[MakeSumCake]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddd for everyone

[acamogirl]

one big step for California, one small step for the rest of us. I'm in a Commonwealth, we're probably gonna be the last ones.

[badjer1785]

good job RT and MPP

[imartarded]

call 973-409-3274 and vote to legalize

[jrizos]

The people conducting this raids are rogue DEA agents acting outside the department. They are trying to provoke a showdown within the administration wherein Obama has to come and TELL them, and this will go public, NOT to enforce the law, which will force the hand of the Obama Administration. The administration is reluctant to do so, because it will completely shift all attention away from their more pressing issues, economy, war, etc.

[99minerkc]

Marijuana can be part of the economic problem, so it should be one of the "pressing issues" you mention! I think the special interest groups have a lot of power and are using some of it to slow Obama down!

[blueeyez357]

I have to agree here, marijuana could easily bring a ton of revenue to the gov't as well as the american business owner.

could you imagine if all of a sudden they made alcohol illegal? america's economy would cripple overnight

same with cig's, I live in NC and tobacco is the cornerstone of NC's economy.

[HugeJohn51]

great point, and there is no comparison between tobacco and marijuana as far as harm and health concerns, so what's the deal with that?

[blueeyez357]

probably because they don't want marijuana to move in on their profits

my whole thing is that the alcohol and tobacco companies should be all over it, if it became legal they could produce/sell it too

it has a multitude of uses including hemp for paper and clothes and the cost of production is much lower compared to logging, it just makes sense

[yerk3]

blueeyez357: Exactly. Alcohol and tobacco companies could market marijuana. Tobacco companies could sell blended "English-style" spliffs.

[richmocha]

Marijuana is a bit easier to make than either alcohol or tobacco, but you are probably right. But why is it still illegal then? just inertia? or maybe because most politicians grew up during all the reefer madness propaganda.

[sacralith]

Its not easier to make than alcohol! You can make like 5-6 runs of beer in the time it takes to make 1 mature crop of marijuana. It only takes very minimal effort to make wine out of a gallon of grape juice but wine takes a longer to finish and its not as good without using fresh fruit.

Also, marijuana is illegal because they want to tax us for a drug war and so they must protect that drug war. Its easier to believe conspiracy theory than that our govt is really this stupid.

[yerk3]

rimocha: Probably a combination of those last two. Politics is riddled with inertia. Politicians don't want to alienate conservative or centrist voters, they play the democratic system by pandering to the lowest common denominator. They won't take any position unless they're absolutely sure it will help them in the next election.

[yerk3]

rimocha: If there is any way to get marijuana legalized, it would be through a massive and well-organized information campaign dispelling myths about marijuana and stereotypes about marijuana users. Only after politicians become convinced that supporting drug law reform will be good for them politically, will we see any change in the law.

[jrizos]

It is urgent, and pressing, and potentially an economic boon, it's also very, very politically costly. It will be very easy for the GOP to paint him as "soft on crime" and anti-children in their 2012 election attacks. Obama won't move an inch until he wins this.

[EscpdFrmPsykward]

And yet places are still being raided, despite the fact that Obama said they would stop.

[99minerkc]

Obama clearly said that the clinics in CA providing mj must follow both state and federal regulations or they still may be raided! I wonder if the clinics raided after Obama came in followed just the state regs. Just wondering

[pomeroy82]

Yeah lets just hope its truly a policy change towards legalization or at the least decriminalization rather than another re branding of the DRUG WAR! I was totally disappointing in Obama's flippant disregard of the #1 question pertaining to the legalization of marijuana when asked in the white house web forum.

[stivesixsixsix]

legalize pot and

get this country out of debt

[Fujimoto420]

Aaron you're my hero! If I won the lottery I would give every dime of it to the Marijuana Policy Project. I respect what you all do and you will always have my full support.

Legalize Regulate Medicate Educate!

[99minerkc]

Wow! If I won the lottery I would spend all of it on marijuana and get high ! o.O

[MakeSumCake]

Im with ya on that one mane

[Fujimoto420]

Well I would no doubt think about it and probably buy some anyway, but if you were the person who made it possible for pot to be legal, I'm sure there would be thousands of people willing to get you high for free. Making millions of peoples lives better would be more than worth it to me. But yeah, I would definantly buy some dank before donating. lol

[99minerkc]

True! I would buy some for me and spread the wealth as the politicians say! I would especially give to those like myself who are in chronic pain but don't know where to get marijuana due to it being illegal in my state.

Take care! : )