Tag: Marijuana

    Colorado: January 1, 2014 a Historic Day

    For more than 70 years, the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes has been banned in the United States. But this prohibition, as it has existed for decades, ended Wednesday in Colorado.

    The first legal sale of marijuana to people 21 years of age and older began in the morning at selected clinics in Colorado-the first State in the country, and the first government in the world, to control and regulate a legal marijuana industry for recreational purposes.

    “This is a great day,” said Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Reform Group majority, at The Huffington Post. “With what Colorado is doing now, and what the state of Washington and Uruguay will do later this year, we finally have the opportunity to show the world the benefits of legalizing and regulating marijuana that we’ve been talking about for so many years. Raising the market above the land will generate tax revenues, create jobs and withdraw money from the cartels and violent drug gangs that control the trade where marijuana is illegal. Once other states and countries see these results proven, they will want to get rid of their prohibition laws as well.”

      Georgia’s Marijuana Arrest Statistics

      If a person it caught with illicit drugs they can be arrested by law enforcement. There drug-related offense will automatically show up on their arrest records. Marijuana possession is one of the main reasons people are arrested for drug-related crimes. One may deduce that there are several issues that determine why marijuana related arrests occur so frequently in Georgia.  Some of these factors include the availability of illegal substances. Age is also a factor since marijuana is the most likely drug which youths and particularly new drug users will use.

      Marijuana crime statistics

      Marijuana arrest statistics reveal that marijuana possession is a serious offense in Georgia. A 2010 study entitled “The War on Marijuana in Black and White” revealed that Georgia ranks high when it pertains to marijuana drug charges and crimes. For instance, this state was ranked 6th with about 32,473 arrests. The states which were in the top five were New York, Texas, Florida, California and Illinois. New York ranked number one with more than 100,000 arrests. The same report states that in about half of all states, marijuana possession accounted for more than 90% all marijuana arrests.

        Marijuana Safer Than Prescription Meds Says Attorney John Morgan

        Claiming that medical marijuana would be a safer, non-addictive and more-effective alternative to OxyContin, Orlando attorney John Morgan condemned the prescription pain killer in a speech Friday to argue that many of its users would be far better off smoking pot.

        Speaking to the Tiger Bay Club of Central Florida, Morgan said that OxyContin, a commonly prescribed – and abused – pain medication, kills 16,000 people a year and addicts many more. He claimed marijuana – which is illegal in Florida and most states – is comparatively harmless and more effective.

        “It is truly a disgrace what goes on,” said Morgan, best known for his Morgan & Morgan personal injury law firm, who chairs a statewide campaign to get a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana on the 2014 Florida ballot. “OxyContin is a poison that is put into our system by pharmaceutical companies that make billions and billions of dollars.”