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Baltimore police abandoned by Fed and State governments. No

UPDATE: The Mayor’s Office issued a statement this afternoon about the comments above:

BALTIMORE, Md. (April 27, 2015)—Today, Howard Libit, Director of Strategic Planning and Policy, issued the following statement regarding Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s comments on the rights of protesters:

“What she is saying within this statement was that there was an effort to give the peaceful demonstrators room to conduct their peaceful protests on Saturday. Unfortunately, as a result of providing the peaceful demonstrators with the space to share their message, that also meant that those seeking to incite violence also had the space to operate. The police sought to balance the rights of the peaceful demonstrators against the need to step in against those who were seeking to create violence.

The mayor is not saying that she asked police to give space to people who sought to create violence. Any suggestion otherwise would be a misinterpretation of her statement.”


btw Rawlings-Blake was elected to the city council in 1995. became president in 2007. the former mayor resigned in 2010, and she was appointed mayor per the city's charter, She was then elected in 2011 with 87 percent of the vote. She has done a lot to address urban blight in her time, receiving an award from the Urban Land Institute.
Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize too. Baltimore has way higher violent crime rates and murder rates than the National Avg. Also marked higher black unemployment rates. Is this the type of leadership that should be getting awards ?
 
well then if being an introductory drug was your reason for banning pot do you feel the same about alcohol?
No, I don't. Not that alcohol hasn't ruined countless lives....it has....but in moderation alcohol is not that harmful. A glass of wine with a meal. A beer or two while watching the game. A cocktail before dinner or chatting with a friend. This kind of alcohol consumption has been culturally acceptable for many, many centuries. The same can't be said for pot.
 
No, I don't. Not that alcohol hasn't ruined countless lives....it has....but in moderation alcohol is not that harmful. A glass of wine with a meal. A beer or two while watching the game. A cocktail before dinner or chatting with a friend. This kind of alcohol consumption has been culturally acceptable for many, many centuries. The same can't be said for pot.


Ok. I was just curious.
I just don't happen to agree at all. I don't see anything wrong with smoking a bowl while watching a movie or listening to some music.
 
Clearly the Democrat Mayor of Baltimore inherited this disaster from her Democrat predecessor.
 
Clearly the Democrat Mayor of Baltimore inherited this disaster from her Democrat predecessor.

Well actually she was thrust into the position because the former mayor got busted using gift cards meant for the poor.
Well that was one of the reasons.
Really when it comes to politics you can't even make up some of the bizarre shit that goes down.
 
There are too many recent studies showing that alcohol is as harmful if not more than weed. It's not really even a debate at this point as both can have adverse medical and mental affects on people. Both shouldn't be abused or used at too young of an age. I choose not to touch the green stuff, but I'm not really for locking up grown men for using that drug anymore. Alcohol is the ultimate gateway drug and that isn't really up for debate either. I'm not for prohibition, but some common sense.

The tide is turning as the 40's/50's propaganda films on weed have all been debunked. It doesn't turn people into psychos from the first time they touch it. It doesn't hype people up or make them more prone to violence. The violence associated with it existed when prohibition was around and alcohol had to be smuggled. Think about people being locked up for moving whiskey today, you would laugh at that. Just like with alcohol, people still have a black market for shine and home brews all over this country. I find it silly cops are out in the hills busting country bumpkins for shine. If they want to make it and chance drinking it when legal options are available, that is on them.

The days of locking people up over a less harmful substance is outdated. You can't legalize all drugs and even legal prescription drugs have reached epidemic levels in terms of abuse. Legalize it, monitor it, make it safer, tax it, and realize it's never going away. It's been around for centuries as well and it's silly to be locking people up for it in 2015.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/le...a-may-be-less-harmful-alcohol-tobacco-n312876

http://www.newsweek.com/cannabis-more-100-times-safer-alcohol-study-finds-309035
 
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My major objection to pot legalization is that it hangs around in the system a *lot* longer than alcohol. I don't want someone driving around town that may or may not be stoned.
 
My major objection to pot legalization is that it hangs around in the system a *lot* longer than alcohol. I don't want someone driving around town that may or may not be stoned.

I guess you mean in their blood system which would be true, but that doesn't mean the effects last longer. In fact it's pretty much the opposite of what you typed. Making it legal or illegal hasn't stopped people from driving drunk or stoned.
 
how is the view with your head in the sand? Take away the opportunity for these kids to make a living dealing. that alone solves a lot of problems. funnel that savings into any kind of program that shows success for training these kids to do something else. there are so many better things to try than the same old, same old which produces zero positive results.[/QUOTE
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/nine-months-colorado-legalized-recreational-marijuana/

I get the decriminalization part, There is no need to throw someone in jail for possession of small amounts of marijuana, but if you believe that legalization will end the black market/drug pushing you need to take a look at what has actually happened in Colorado. The pushers and black market are still there. The anticipated cash cow in tax revenues never materialized.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/12/colorado-s-pot-revenue-goes-up-in-smoke.html
Colorado and Washington along with several other states are all taking different paths at dealing with the same situation. we are one year into these multiple experiments, one will eventually rise to the top. Doing the same thing over year in and year out has led to where we are at today. its time for a different approach ( or since this is a state issue, different approaches ).

in Barcelona every person is allowed to grow 2 plants at a time for personal consumption. in the head shops they will sell you the seeds and growing systems, just not the weed. that's one approach. its all peaceful and taxes are collected indirectly.

In Vancouver, they have created a drug market area with medical coverage in a certain sector of the city so they can monitor the users ( and I presume dealers ) and provide medical care and counseling. it has reduced crime significantly just like clean needles reduce AIDS which is a huge health expense.

there are way to many men locked up in this country over small amounts of weed. they no longer can work or serve as roll models in their community or provide for their families. I once volunteered in a school near Philly where out of 36 teachers, one was a man. when my kids were transferring they asked me if I could stay on as they desperately needed role models.

you are never going to solve everything but you have to try different courses of action or expect the same. I am not looking for miracles, but some of these kids are actually ambitious, want to earn a living and have no guidance so they turn to the corner on their block because that's where they get attention.

and for the love of god, weed is not a gateway drug anymore than pop tarts are, some of you folks buy the Fox News fear machine BS a little to much.
 
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/u...a-a-pediatrician-faces-the-question.html?_r=0

here is a NYT article ( recent ) on a pediatricians view of alcohol versus weed with respect to teenagers, college, development, etc. You Fox News Gateway Drug Fear mongers should give it a read.

The problem of making it a left versus right thing is people will immediately draw a line in the sand without bothering to research something on their own. Just my 2 cents, educate and leave the left or right out of this one. The ones that have a party think for them already won't change their minds. That goes for both sides of the fence on most issues. I wish the 2 party system would die with actual independent candidates who think for themselves, but we know that will never happen.
 
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The problem of making it a left versus right thing is people will immediately draw a line in the sand without bothering to research something on their own. Just my 2 cents, educate and leave the left or right out of this one. The ones that have a party think for them already won't change their minds. That goes for both sides of the fence on most issues. I wish the 2 party system would die with actual independent candidates who think for themselves, but we know that will never happen.


agreed. thanks for pointing that out.
 
agreed. thanks for pointing that out.

OT...Panic just took the stage in NOLA and I'm not there. Instead I have a Disney play to go to for my daughters play, but at least she's singing I'm a believer!!!!! I think this may be the first time I have missed Panic at the fest, but oh well...they will be back.
 
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well since we're keen on posting Freddie Gray's arrest record, someone pointed out today the senior arresting officer had a history of mental instability:

LINK
 
Yeah, it's DISINFORMATION to inject doubt into the outcome.

WBAL's Jayne Miller (Central PA girl and PSU grad) has been doing some super reporting on the situation. She shot that whole WaPo article down yesterday. She even broke the mystery unreported stop that the van made.

this also happened with the alleged spinal surgery story based on a deliberate misreading of court papers

and the BS "credible threat" from the Crips, Bloods, and Black Guerillas

the real question is WHY we keep seeing this pattern, mostly from right wing media outlets (IMHO), to crucify the victims of police violence and tell outrageous lies in the process.

it is funny how much Penn Staters have been frustrated by the GJ process in regards to the Sandusky scandal, but I've seen the same people latch on to the Frerguson GJ findings as gospel (even though a grand juror is currently suing the county over the secrecy laws because he wants to speak publicly about the process) because it fits into this narrative that they want to believe is 100% true.
 
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