PotshotPolka
30 Jul 2008, 12:33pm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/30/frank.marijuana/index.html
(CNN) -- The U.S. should stop arresting responsible marijuana users, Rep. Barney Frank said Wednesday, announcing a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance.
Current laws targeting marijuana users place undue burdens on law enforcement resources, punish ill Americans whose doctors have prescribed the substance and unfairly affect African-Americans, said Frank, flanked by legislators and representatives from advocacy groups.
"The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government's business," Frank said during a Capitol Hill news conference. "I don't think it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time."
The Massachusetts Democrat and his supporters emphasized that only the use -- and not the abuse -- of marijuana would be decriminalized if the resolution resulted in legislation.
Personally I wouldn't care, so long as reforms to make more stringent penalties on drivers that drink or under the influence of drugs. Take Germany for example: If you are caught under the influence while driving, your license to drive in irrevocably removed, and jail time is extensive, if a driver was tokill or maim someone in an accident while driving drunk/drugged they can serve anywhere from 20-life.
EDIT: Damnit I hit enter while entering the title and now it's become tarded.
(CNN) -- The U.S. should stop arresting responsible marijuana users, Rep. Barney Frank said Wednesday, announcing a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance.
Current laws targeting marijuana users place undue burdens on law enforcement resources, punish ill Americans whose doctors have prescribed the substance and unfairly affect African-Americans, said Frank, flanked by legislators and representatives from advocacy groups.
"The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government's business," Frank said during a Capitol Hill news conference. "I don't think it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time."
The Massachusetts Democrat and his supporters emphasized that only the use -- and not the abuse -- of marijuana would be decriminalized if the resolution resulted in legislation.
Personally I wouldn't care, so long as reforms to make more stringent penalties on drivers that drink or under the influence of drugs. Take Germany for example: If you are caught under the influence while driving, your license to drive in irrevocably removed, and jail time is extensive, if a driver was tokill or maim someone in an accident while driving drunk/drugged they can serve anywhere from 20-life.
EDIT: Damnit I hit enter while entering the title and now it's become tarded.