Di-Fi's Pot Brownie legislation bill advances....

[Bennyboy]

Source: FIREDOGLAKE

Last night the United States Senate voted to double the penalties for the nation’s newest existential threat: brownies made with marijuana!

The Senate unanimously passed Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)’s “Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2009″ (S. 258) that targets pot brownies and other marijuana edibles preferred by some medical marijuana patients. The bill next moves to the House; if it passes that chamber, anyone making pot brownies or similar products could be subject to double the fines and jail time for regular marijuana.

This bill’s passage marks a step backwards for Congress, which this week also passed the Fair Sentencing Act that reduced the sentencing disparities between cocaine and crack from 100:1 to 18:1. Now we have a new disparity: pot brownies and other marijuana edibles are now treated as something twice as bad as just distributing marijuana.

“Candy Flavored Meth”

Marijuana prohibitionists often hide behind vague threats to children, and DiFi’s bill is no different. Her “Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act” is framed to make politicians afraid to oppose. “How dare you voted against saving kids from dangerous drugs?”



Read more: http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/07/30/senate-votes-to-double-fines-jail-time-for-pot-brownies/

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Clueless. Democrats are clueless and so are Republicans. This is ridiculous. Might just be the single dumbest bill ever introduced.

Di-Fi I so cannot wait to rid this state of you and your idiocy.

[Traveling_Home]

1. Sometimes just say NO! is the right thing to do nt

[marmar]

2. No to DiFi's ridiculous legislation

[Occulus]

29. If she were serious she would ban chocolate-flavored laxatives

Ex-lax poses more of a threat to children.

[asdjrocky]

59. Thanks Nancy.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. I'm all for the bill.

I'm assuming, of course, that CA will want to contract with my new company for contraband brownie disposal.

[Lost4words]

70. Can I send you my resume???

[asdjrocky]

4. Like she's never smoked pot.

The hypocrisy of the Cali Dems makes it impossible to support them.

edited to add-
I have brownies in the over right now, come and get me.

[Frisbee]

5. If all these pols who are so opposed to pot...

would just sit down a smoke a number, they'd realize that is is not the great evil they seem to think. :smoke:

[Merlot]

9. That has nothing to do with it. It's all about the money.

Big money in pot prohibition. And big corporations that want to keep it illegal and hemp too.

It's ALWAYS about the money.

[LynneSin]

6. I see both the pros and cons of this

As for edible marijuana products - for some people smoking just isn't an option and it's a better way to injest the product.

However kids see 'Brownies*' and they may not know that what looks to be a sweet treat to them may actually be medicine for mommy or daddy.

Not sure what the purpose of the bill is but I would think those adults using brownies and other 'snacks' to injest marijuana would have the common sense to keep those items out of the reach of children. I have always been a firm believer in general that these products should not be used until someone is over the age of 18 and has a firm grasp with what they are using. Just like with smoking and/or alcohol.

[Uncle Joe]

11. I believe there should be additional safeguards if you have pot brownies in a house with kids, but

this seems like overkill.

As it is kids might see fruit flavored wine coolers in the refrigerator, or coconut flavored rum in the liquor cabinet, but drinkers aren't penalized for the selective choice of their recreational beverage and in many cases of pot brownies it may be, like you said for medicinal purposes.

Frankly in regard to making Cannabis or Hemp illegal, I believe the nation has gone insane, logic, compassion and common sense seem to have just flown out the window.

How Big Brother intrusive can they get?

There just seems to be no end to it.

[LynneSin]

12. I agree.

I'm thinking (and trust me I could be wrong) that ultimately her purpose is to add additional fines to those people who carelessly leave edibles around in the presense of children. It's no different then when the governmnet cracked down on cigarette ads because of their appeal to kids like Joe Camel.

I could be wrong.

One would think adults would do the right thing and make safeguards but then again I had an old neighbor would would drive around with her infant just laying in the front seat of the car. I'm glad she moved away because I was so close to calling child services on them. I probably should have.

[zzapatista]

25. You gotta be fucking kidding me

What are the pros to this? The only people who would support this are idiots who think we should legislate against razor blades in Halloween candy. How many kids each year are poisoned by pot brownies? I'm guessing the number hovers right around 0.

What about the strawberry flavored condoms I have in my dresser?!?! What if a child finds them and blends them into a smoothie and then goes to Nevada and sells the smoothies to other children? We need to legislate against the interstate commerce of flavored confections containing more than 5% condom-derived materials by minors. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!

Or maybe we should work on legislation for the nation that is falling down around our ears instead of make-believe crap that only polls well with mouth-breathers.

[LynneSin]

28. I'm guessing you only read half of my post

it's ok. It happens.

I didn't say I supported it. If you read my 2nd post about child seats it's simple - there are still stupid people in this world.

[Bennyboy]

35. Well they make many dangerous products that kids find attractive...

Like cough syrup (Codeine). They make it red to make it more palatable for kids and now they add flavors to it to make it taste like candy.

What about egg nog? How does a kid know if the egg nog is spiked with rum? Or a coke?

Cigarettes are certainly designed with labels to make them more attractive. So is beer.(BTW< I chastised a grandparent the other day for letting their granddaughter sip beer in a bar, not because of the beer but the liability for the bar owners who are friends of mine)...

Captain Morgan, yeah that label scares kids off surely!

This is ridiculous.

[LynneSin]

36. I know it is all crazy.

And btw the cigarette things have been processed in such a way that anything that could be deemed 'attractive' to kids have been removed.

Honestly, what this all boils down to is a 'stupidity' law. Yes, if you have things that could been deemed 'attractive' to kids then it should be put somewhere out of site and safe from those kids. And as much as you and I can understand this kind of common sense practice there are people out there too stupid to breathe that don't.

But I do agree there are better things to be dealing with in congress.

[droidamus2]

50. How about

Orange flavored aspirin for children. Yes smaller dosage but still a drug. I remember getting in trouble when I was real little for eating those.

[droidamus2]

55. Useless

Yes DiFi is and so is her stupid bill. This is one of those pieces of legislation that pols use to sound 'tough on drugs' that in the end will have very little effect. Can't you see it, some guy in jail and a fellow inmate asks him what he's in for and he replies 'brownies'. Since DiFi is against the legalization ballot measure I suspect she is going to use this to campaign against legalization. On many of the forums I've been to this is where anti-pot people go when faced with logical realistic reasons for legalization. It's always 'the children, think of the children'. Number one just because you choose to procreate doesn't mean my life should be limited by your walking petri dishes. Number two, kids already have ready access to pot and anybody that thinks otherwise just doesn't know what their talking about. This reminds me of the canard that comes out every once in awhile that people selling LSD are putting cartoon characters on the blotter so they can sell more to kids. Actually marking the blotter is more of a way to identify the batch and producer/seller and I don't think has ever been intended to attract kids besides it's not like the stuff is sitting on the candy shelf at the local 7/11.

[Maat]

64. There is no need for this law.

Local/state child endangerment laws (criminal perspective) and Child Protective Services (civil/dependency-court perspective) already provide the tools with which to deal with inappropriate behavior around kids.

(Sorry, I should have addressed this reply to the OP).

So, DiFi is again full of crap.

[hobbit709]

72. Do you leave things the kids shouldn't have laying around

That's nanny-state thinking there. The people I know that use pot and have kids don't leave it out in front of them anymore than they leave sharp knives, guns, alcohol, dangerous chemicals or other such items where they are easily obtainable by kids.

[FiveGoodMen]

7. They can't do anything worthwhile, but there's always time to fuck with people for no reason.

Fuck these fucking fucks!

[russspeakeasy]

47. Damn,,,I wish I would have said that...!!!

[Webster Green]

8. She is horrible, and very hard to unseat.

Last time she ran she got 87% of the democratic primary votes. Her opponents: Collen Fernald (who got my vote) 8%, and Martin Luther Church 5%.

[jgraz]

44. We need to convince Barbara Lee or Maxine Waters to run against her.

Unfortunately, both of those reps seem to be fans of DieFi.

[Le Taz Hot]

69. Waters won't run because the national party has

too much dirt on her and they've threatened to use it if she ever tries to run for higher office. Now Lee is a GREAT possibility but I guarantee you the state party will push Sanchez.

[Le Taz Hot]

68. She'll be 79 in 2012

I'm hoping like hell she doesn't run again AND that the flippin' California Democratic Party stays out of the candidate selection process. They won't of course as it's important to them and the feds to get a useful corporate puppet such as DiFi.

[Bluenorthwest]

10. Last time I face a ballot with DiFi's exploitative and hypocritical

name on it was the only time in my life I voted for the Green candidate over the Democrat, and this sort of thing is exactly why.

[Webster Green]

15. I voted Green in the general as well.

It was the obvious choice.

[NorthCarolina]

13. Absolutely ridiculous. Clueless is almost an understatement. n/t

[slay]

14. You mean the same Diane Feinstein who is a war profiteer?

"The Center for Public Integrity has also reported that Senator Feinstein and her husband, Richard Blum, are making millions of dollars from Iraq and Afghanistan contracts through his company, Perini <18>. Feinstein voted for the resolution giving President George W. Bush the authority to invade Iraq."

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianne_Feinstein

Oh yeah, no conflict of interest there! Politicians like her are fucking COWARDS to the Nth degree - hiding behind children to pass their bullshit laws and using the threat of never ending terrorism to scare the shit out of people. FUCK YOU FEINSTEIN - YOU ARE EVIL! A lot of medical marijuana patients CAN'T smoke and need the edibles. Hell I prefer edibles cause it doesn't harm my lungs.

We are in HUGE trouble in this country. Laws are being forced upon us by a very select few, which NOBODY WANTS!!! :grr: :mad:

[truedelphi]

16. In order to allow her husband to profit from her voting for the war

Against Iraq, Di Fi saw to it that the entire piece of ethics regs in the Senate was overhauled.

The way "conflict of interest" is now defined, as long as the bill you vote in has some purpose other than awarding you money, then all is okay.

Di Fi voted in the bill for war against Iraq, Bush went to war, and within eight weeks, her husband had lined up 27 million bucks worth of Iraq war-related contracts!

Several years later, when the couple buy a beautiful sixteen million dollar home in the Presidio neighborhood (I could be wrong about the neighborhood) the SF Chronicle announces how her new home ahs a "view to die for."

Which is exactly what happened to over one million Iraqis, and over 4,000 of our service people.

Hope you enjoy the view, Diane.

[slay]

27. Sickening isn't it? And from a Democrat no less

I'm beginning to think the Dems may not really be on our side. Not the ones with real power like her anyways.

[pdefalla]

18. She's a "killionaire" nt

[Ignis]

39. +++

Nice one. :patriot:

[superconnected]

17. why is this even an issue? We have a tanked economy and a country to fix.

[slay]

30. It's an issue because now you'll face twice as harsh a penalty for eating weed as smoking it

which is just stupid and wrong especially when so many need marijuana for medical purposes.

But I agree, this shouldn't be an issue - Diane Fienstein should never have crafted such a draconian Republican-type law. We do indeed have much bigger problems, but this is Diane Fienstein's bill, not ours. This was forced on us with no say so. Her priorities are totally wrong.

[superconnected]

42. Okay, so it's an attack on white people to go to prison for longer sentences.

Wonder if the US prison corporations are funding this?

Lets not forget that this week they lost a whole lot of future black inmates with the new crack cocaine law:

Congress reforms cocaine convictions - to help stop favoring whites.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/29-1

[slay]

45. I dunno what Di-Fi was thinking, but yeah I noticed that

they FINALLY made the disparity between crack and cocaine a bit more reasonable. I find the whole drug war appalling as well as the effect it has had on the black community. You ever see American Drug War: The Last White Hope by Kevin Booth? If not, I highly recommend it.

For profit prisons is a pet issue of mine in that I want them out of business permanently! They make money off keeping people locked up and I hadn't really thought about it, but this could indeed replace some of the black inmates who will have lesser crack sentences. Everything is all fucked up - we need to bring the power back to the people and away from corrupt senators with questionable agendas like Feinstein.

American Drug War (Entire film in 12 parts): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rUCBuB6TmM

[Maat]

62. And Kevin Booth has a follow-up film out ...

"How Weed Won the West." That is also excellent. It's available on Netflix and on online movie sites.

[slay]

67. I've watched the first half

and it's quite good but not as powerful as American Drug War - a bit more positive which is a good development, even if slight. Nice to see Kevin do these fuck-the-bullshit-drug-war movies - Bill Hicks would be proud.

BILL HICKS WAR ON DRUGS -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCf2fJsBxRc

[slackmaster]

19. I don't see ANY reason to support Senator Feinstein at this point

She's completely jumped the shark, and needs to be replaced with someone who will make decisions based on facts rather than emotions and grudges.

[lunatica]

20. If pot gets legalized in California in a few years she'll talk about how

great it is and how she backed legalizing it.

Kids won't have free access to pot when it gets legalized. It's treated like alcohol and cigarettes. People have to be either over 18 or 21 to purchase it.

[Grinchie]

21. I once called DiFi a piece of crap -- Well, here's the proof.

This dinosaur needs to be introduced to the Tar Pits of political fossilization.

[JDPriestly]

22. I do not smoke marijuana and wouldn't if it were legal and available everywhere.

It just doesn't interest me. But I do know that meth causes enormous damage in our society.

We should be using our resources to fight meth use -- to inform the public about just devastating meth use in your body and on your relationships with family and friends instead of spending money on fighting marijuana brownies.

[Fumesucker]

66. Good thing alcohol and tobacco don't cause any damage at all in our society..

Both of those are legal and therefore must be harmless, right?

[martymar64]

76. This pothead agrees with you

Meth is much more devastating than weed ever could imagine to be.
I have a good friend that is deteriorating rapidly due to meth and it saddens me as to what it does to a person and our society.

Weed should be legal and regulated.

[Warpy]

23. Please, California, get a reasonable Democrat to oust her in the primary

and support that candidate to win. This legislation shows she's not only totally ignorant on the subject, she's got far too much time on her hands these days when there is useful work to be done that she has got to be ignoring.

Christ, what a stupid bill this is. She doesn't even have enough of a clue to be ashamed of herself over it.

[slay]

32. +1

she's got to be one of the most Republican type Dems we have outside Nelson and Landrau.

[Bennyboy]

40. +2.

[Ignis]

41. We wish, but there's not a chance in hell.

I'm afraid we're going to have to wait for her to retire. :(

[Xithras]

58. I haven't voted for her in a primary OR a general in two elections.

Nobody I speak with actually LIKES her, so it's a mystery as to how she hangs onto that seat.

[Le Taz Hot]

71. The CDP is not interested in reasonable candidates.

They are interested in corporate shills. Her replacement (probably Sanchez) will be DiFi Part Duex.

[ladywnch]

24. you gotta love the hypocrisy of this. they just voted to normalize

the penalties between crack and powder cocaine only to turn around and impose new disparities..... amazing.

[OverBurn]

26. Idiots

It has took years to try and fix the big mistake of making cocaine and crack have different criminal punishments. Now the freaking idiots are trying to do it again, fuck'um.

As bad as I hate to see Dem's lose seats, Feinstein deserves to go away.

You want to protect kids from marijuana, legalize it and tax it. I know when I was a teenager it was so much easier to get pot than it was to get alcohol.

[ixion]

31. *sigh* the madness rolls on

:argh:

[SkyDaddy7]

33. I have a New Bill...Would you vote for it?

“Saving America from OLD Crotchety Stupid Ignorant People in Congress Act of 2010”

[Le Taz Hot]

73. Just a reminder that there are plenty of

YOUNG Stupid Ignorant People in Congress? It's about politicizing on the backs of medical marijuana users, not about age.

[CLANG]

34. Just force them to label the brownies as "Shit Bars". Problem solved.

[Odin2005]

37. ARRRGH!!! Stop this drug war insanity!

[Tsiyu]

38. And how much does Ms. "Temperance" Feinstein

receive from prison industry lobbyists?


Just say no, Dianne.

You don't really need those $$$$, I swear.

Not as much as some cancer patients need their brownies.



















You Damned Cruel Rich Bitch

[jgraz]

43. Jesus, this woman is a waste of oxygen.

I don't understand why other Democrats keep supporting her useless stupidity.

[OnyxCollie]

46. K&R. nt

[Deep13]

48. Yah know, the whole goddamn world doesn't need to be safe for children.

Considering we have the highest incarceration rate in the world, we might want to start thinking about how to reduce that problem rather than making it worse.

Feinstein is such a fucking control freak.

[Vinca]

51. They might start by ending wars if they want the world safe for children.

Pot brownies. What a joke.

[Deep13]

53. How many soldiers were children when this war started?

:-(

[krabigirl]

49. I cant stand her and this bill is a joke. I hope she gets voted out next term. Idiot.

[madrchsod]

52. she`s living high on her husbands blood money.

[Triana]

54. Jeebus on a damn stick. We have more important things to worry about...

... :wtf: Just LEGALIZE it already!

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

56. On Behalf of Every Seriously Ill Person Using Cannabis in the US, I say

Fuck you, you evil old hag.

[Maat]

60. +1000 (n/t)

[JackInGreen]

57. I have to wonder

if the legalization measure passes, what then?

[Cali_Democrat]

61. Fuck You Feinstein.

[laughingliberal]

63. Such fail. nt

[ThoughtCriminal]

65. We need to make two times zero = zero

Stop living in the 20th Century and end another stupid "War On..."

[glitch]

74. The only good this bill serves is to highlight how fucking useless the Senate has become.

And taking some heat off the President and his administration.

[Canuckistanian]

75. This was HER idea?

WTF? Don't we get enough idiotic ideas from Republicans?

Even THEY weren't stupid enough to propose this - but they'll sure as hell vote for it.