America Going to Pot, Literally
Categories: Politics
Tags: Eric Holder federal Justice Department sin marijuana California tribulation
It is estimated that marijuana is the biggest cash crop in America. According to the Office of Management and Budget, the entire U.S. marijuana market is worth about $112 billion.
Around the nation, the idea of legalizing recreational marijuana use has been gaining traction. Pro-marijuana bills have been introduced by such prominent politicians as Reps. Barney Frank, Ron Paul, and Sen. Jim Webb.
The epicenter of the pro-pot movement is clearly California. San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has already introduced a bill that would allow adults 21 and older to legally possess, grow, and sell marijuana.
"It defies reason to propose closing parks and eliminating vital services for the poor while this potential revenue is available," Ammiano said in a statement.
It's not just the track record of California's liberal population that has it front and center in the legalization debate. Since California has a massive $26.3 billion budget shortfall, the argument is being made that pot can be a good source of income for the state. One headline made the trade-off very clear: "No Marijuana Taxation without Legalization." A tax on marijuana in California, like alcohol, would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue, according to an official analysis released by state tax officials.
The use of marijuana is banned outright under federal law, but It is unlikely that there would be a state- vs.-federal conflict since U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department would defer to state marijuana regulations. Holder is basically saying we are going to void the federal laws by ignoring them.
Over the last several years, the U.S. government has changed the focus of its anti-drug efforts, deemphasizing marijuana in favor of prescription drugs. Even private anti-drug groups have been retreating from the effort to control marijuana usage.
Recent polls show a sharp rise in the public's support for legalization. Thirty years ago, only 27 percent of the population was for marijuana being made legal. Today, there are polls that show nearly 50 percent of the public is for the lifting of such restrictions.
Any ads you do find today about pot are for its free use. The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is using TV ads to urge California residents to support a plan to legalize and tax marijuana.
Once California becomes a haven for marijuana usage, the pressure will be on other states to join the party. The perfect template for how a vice can spread throughout the land is gambling. At one time, anyone who wanted to roll the dice or try their luck with a one-armed-bandit had to travel to Las Vegas. Today, nearly every state in the Union has some form of gambling.
In my home state of Iowa, they first had riverboat gambling. The twisted thinking was that betting on the river was somehow separate from betting on dry land. Now that people have gotten used to gambling dens, Iowa now has several soil-based casinos throughout the state. Some are equal to ones found in Nevada.
The problem with sin is that it has a very progressive nature. When we allow room for one “minor” sin, one of a more evil nature will quickly follow. I can see legalized euthanasia in the footsteps of the marijuana campaign. Oregon passed a law allowing doctor-assisted suicide, and the pro forces there have won every legal challenge. Gay marriage is another sin sweeping over the nation. Same-sex marriage is now legal in nine states.
All this moral erosion tells me is that tribulation judgment is coming soon. At some point, God will say "enough is enough," and will begin to pour His vengeance on this evil world. We, as believers, need to do our best to combat the forces of darkness. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the Lord will want to know what role we played in this mess.
"Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences" (2 Corinthians 5:9-11).
-- Todd Strandberg
Rapture Ready
Quite simply, President Obama will sanction anything he perceives will buy him votes. He sees at this point that opposing legalization will cost him more votes than it will gain him. Mainly due to laziness on the part of the Silent Majority.
While we are distracted by having to oppose the vileness of his Health Care Plan which advocates Euthanasia Counseling for the Elderly every 5 years and having to oppose his Energy Plan which will raise utility rates and other energy costs for Americans by a multiple of a minimum 2x, we will also be forced to watch pot be sold from the porches across the street and down the block. I have nothing against pot being used for medicinal purposes, but pot is a gateway drug which leads to hard drug use. Do we want more of this for our children?
Just say no to President Obama's corrupton of American values.
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I agree it does seem that the flood gates have been opened to every nut case idea since the election in November. It is to the point that I can't keep up with all the new legislation being rammed through Congress at neck break speed.
While I did not find euthanasia counseling in the House Bill, yet end of life counseling (Living Will) was required, which it has been for a good number of years now. Yet I have found other issues equally as troubling, as cost effectiveness treatments.
If the treatment is considered too costly, then what option does the patient have? Will we be seeing a higher rate of cancer deaths, injury deaths and so forth.
Maybe the legalizing pot plan is, if people are so stoned they won't care what is going on in the world.
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I agree with your analysis of sin being progressive. The devil is as a roaring lion and in this nation where anything goes, he is reaping souls through ignorance, liberalism, atheism, and a general acceptance of "modern" morals. I think it is vital for us as Christians to be as assertive with our beliefs as those that wish to force such anti-Christian beliefs down our throats. We should be bold in our speech as Paul was during his many travels around the world. He and so many others lost their lives for our faith and we are not willing to stand up for our beliefs when the worst we would endure is possibly harsh remarks! (I will be the first to admit that I need to work on this more than anyone!) Why can't we have the boldness to say NO to all of these radically wrong ideas floating around such as abortion, gay rights, legalization of marijuana. As a comment to this article noted, this world will not last forever and I don't want to be accountable to my Lord for not standing up for Him while I was here. Also, I don't want to see so many of God's children lose their souls because I was too afraid of encountering an awkward moment to put them on the right track.
I am sorry for taking up so much space on here. I honestly needed to vent to someone and get this off of my heart. I am so afraid of where we as Christians and Americans are heading. Broad is the gate and wide is the path to destruction and I believe that we as a nation are on it. God raised up and brought down nations countless times in the Bible and to think that we as Americans can be so arrogant to remove God from every aspect of our country's government disturbs and angers me. We should get on our knees and repent every day and ask for our God's forgiveness. Please Brothers and Sisters, let's not sit idly on the sidelines and watch our religion have no bearing on this nation. I will pray for you and this nation and I humbly ask that you would do the same.
In Christian Love,
JK
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I'm sorry but i think that pot should be legal. It has been proven over and over again, that it IS NOT a gateway drug. The choice is simple, use it or not, but enough of this oh the poor children tactic, its sad. I can understand how some would be against this, however, using false statements is just wrong and that's a sin, telling lies in order to scare people is a sin. There have been numerous published reports from proven scientists that state that pot has many, many positives, from slowing Alzheimer's to simply making the anorexic hungry. If your against something, just say..hey i'm against it...but don't be a coward. DO NOT say that GOD wouldn't want you to use pot...it comes from the earth and is made by GOD. Xanix, Effexor, anti depressants...among various other man made drugs. Seems like God gave us this to help us, and man made his own version, which have so many bad and even fatal side effects. I don't think that any MAN should speak for God. God wrote the bible, and to me, taking man made drugs is the sin. People like to say they know what God means, and i disagree respectfully, God wrote the bible. If he has anything else to add, he'll write another. God will make his will known, and he'll judge accordingly. Till people realize that they can not force their will on others using God as the reference nothing will get done. If you believe in Christianity as a whole, and accept it, then do it lead by example. Teach your children, pass your morals to them, then pray. Politics and Church....can not mix. The entire pot debate is laughable. Most people have no idea what the truth is about it, and that it's a gateway drug has been dismissed as false along time ago. God gave us a brain, to use..not to be lead. I guess if people used oak as a means of therapy, we'd be hearing about that too. If your high from pot, you do not want to commit murder, rob or steal. You Want To Eat, or Sleep. No one has(and i challenge you to pull the actual statistics) ran anyone over, caused accidents or killed,from using pot. SHAME to you for using Fear and Lies...You'd get further telling the truth....sad...and i'm sure God is sad as well...kinda sounds like being so heavenly minded your no earthly good....
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"DO NOT say that GOD wouldn't want you to use pot...it comes from the earth and is made by GOD."
. Your argument sounds like something that came from the 1960s.
Read Genesis 2:16-17 God made this fruit also, but He also commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit
Didn't God also make the grape? Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Getting high for the sake of getting high is never a good idea.
As far as someone ran someone over, caused accidents etc, the criminal charge would be Driving Under the Influence, drugs, including marijuana not just alcohol would be the contributing factor. The old law DWI or Driving While Intoxicated seemed to indicate use of alcohol, and people who were high on other substances were getting off on a technicality.
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Marijuana use can cause a person to have a variety of problems, but they are nothing compared to the problems of criminal record and time in jail. I hope that none of the hundreds of young people I've worked with over the years ever finds themselves in jail, subject to violence, rape, and the entire spectrum of horror behind bars. As Christians, we are called to take the gospel to all, not to lock them up for using a relatively mild intoxicant. The US Justice department estimates that about 30 Million Americans use marijuana every year. Surely no one would suggest putting all of them in jail?
The Congressional failure to implement a fee and regulatory program for marijuana in the United States is irresponsible and a violation of the public trust.
The cartels would be poorer, our public lands cleaner, and our children safer if we implemented a Personal Use and Cultivation Permit: $100 per year for a dozen plants. Split the proceeds between the States and the Fed.
It's time to put the cartels out of business.
It's time to let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.
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Why are you so quick to label smoking pot as some sort of sin? Is the man who responsibly drinks wine a sinner?
And what does euthanasia have to do with marijuana or medical marijuana programs? Nothing.
If you open up your eyes a little wider you'll see that there are LOTS of really wonderful people who happen to also smoke pot. But guess what? We also do a lot of good in the world. I know I'm a marijuana consumer, but I don't believe in assisted suicide, I don't even believe that alcohol should be sold and consumed the way it is in our country.
If I were to take a look at all the recreational substances our nation uses and try to pin down ONE of them for the cause of the most moral decay, I'd say it is alcohol HANDS DOWN.
Alcohol turns men into beasts, yet our country backs it totally. Yet herb, which causes at worst munchies, is outlawed and those of us who chose to use it are labeled criminals.
Sucks even more when the government disinformation is so effective that people actually believe marijuana is a gateway drug.
Lumping the MJ movement in with the assisted suicide movement is absurd, though. I don't know where you got your info that these groups are somehow related or if your just wanting to create that correlation in your readers' minds, but it's false.
It is more than possible to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and be a cannabis user.
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To answer your question: Is the man who responsibly drinks wine a sinner? The answer is yes Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. One cannot justify one sin by pointing out another sin.
The point of comparing legalizing marijuana and euthanasia is a matter of the slippery slope concept, however I am afraid that slippery slope is already bearing down around us.
Television programs that would never have been considered acceptable just a few years ago, now floods prime-time programming.
If marijuana is made legal, more than likely it will be sold and consumed much in the same way as alcohol is sold today. Thus easy access to those wanting to experiment to get that extra kick that cigarettes don't have.
Let me ask you, why do you smoke marijuana?
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