new mexico mota report

we've come a long way in drug policy since the first weed law was laid on the books in jamestown colony, virginia, in 1619.  that law required farmers to grow hemp, but i'm sure what the founders really meant was that people who grow weed should be mercilessly prosecuted.

of course, we're living in more sober times than that summer of free love in 1619, but all is not lost.  it looks like at least medical marijuana will live to see another day here in new mexico.  there was a piece of legislation pending that would repeal medicinal use, but it won't come to a vote.   according to the santa fe reporter, state rep james smith (r-sandia park) is pulling his own proposal.  instead, smith is now asking for a study to see how the whole let-sick-people-smoke-the-weed thing is going four years after medical marijuana was legalized.  in 2007, with the passage of the lynn and erin compassionate use act, new mexico became the twelfth state in the union to legalize medical marijuana. the resulting state program currently serves around 4,000 patients.

meanwhile, just say now is estimating that new mexico would generate somewhere between $51.5 and $76 million dang dollars in state revenue if we were to go the legalization and taxation route.  the numbers are extrapolated from official reports by california and washington state on the anticipated financial impact of legalization and taxation.  hmm.  doesn't new mexico have a budget shortfall  or something?  i remember hearing a little something about that.  i don't know-- taxes, budget, snooze...

yeah, so let's talk about paragliding crashes. you know who i mean, one of legalization's most famous supporters, former new mexico governor gary johnson.  in december, governor johnson told the weekly standard that he smoked la mota after he broke his back paragliding. johnson got tangled in a tree, and he fell to the earth from fifty feet above.  then he spent the next three years numbing the pain with herb.  the accident was in 2005, so that's three years of recent, consistent criminal activity.  and, guess what? last month johnson came in 3rd in the straw poll for presidential candidate at the conservative political action conference, one of the great mystical oracles for political future.

so it may be that america is finally ready for a president who admits he was stoned for three straight years.  attitudes are changing.  a recent pew poll found now almost half of the country is supportive of straight up legalization. that's 45% for legalization, and a slim 50% majority against. i'd rather see those numbers flipped, but, hey, it's progress. 

ok, that's enough learning.  here's a nice set from psychic sidekick to mellow out to-- you've earned it.

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