These 5 States Are The Least Likely To Legalize Marijuana

[Ron Strider]

Marijuana legalization is gaining momentum across America, but not all states are making progress. Although the number of states where recreational weed is legal could double from 8 to 16 in 2018, it might take decades for other districts to get onboard with reform.

These 5 states will probably be the last to repeal cannabis prohibition.

5. Nebraska and Oklahoma (tie)

Nebraska decriminalized cannabis in 1979, but that's about as far as the Midwestern state is willing to take reform for the time being. Right now, Nebraska is actually teaming up with Oklahoma to overturn legalization in a neighboring state.

Since 2014, Nebraska and Oklahoma have been involved in lawsuits challenging Colorado's legalization regime because it's supposedly disrupting law and order in other districts. According to State Attorney General Doug Peterson, the legal market in Colorado is fuelling black markets in Nebraska and Oklahoma, which makes enforcing prohibition more difficult and expensive for those states.

So they want the feds to shutdown the pot party in Colorado. That means we shouldn't expect either state to repeal prohibition anytime soon...unless AG Peterson believes in the 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' adage.

3. South Dakota

Few states have marijuana laws that are harsher than South Dakota's.

You can face up to a year in jail for simply living in a place where marijuana is consumed. So your roommate could turn into your cellmate if he gets busted at your pad -- even if you never touched a single joint.

South Dakota also takes a zero-tolerance approach to hash and other concentrates. You can be thrown in jail for up to 5 years or slapped with a $10,000 fine for possessing any amount of hash. Which is lenient compared to the 25-year sentence faced by anyone caught selling over a pound of marijuana. That's a quarter of a century for a Ziploc bag's worth of weed.

And while 94 percent of Americans support legalizing medical marijuana, South Dakotans have voted down the issue twice in the last dozen years. The results weren't even close either. In 2010, 63 percent of voters cast ballots against medical cannabis.

2. Alabama

Alabama leads every other state when it comes to the worst mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana. Anyone caught selling 1,000 pounds of marijuana or more faces a mandatory life sentence. That's a life sentence for selling a plant -- not for killing anyone or committing acts of terrorism. Just selling a plant. And if 1,000 lbs. seems like a lot, keep in mind that it's the same weight as about 10 kegs of beer.

On top of that, people caught with even trace amounts of cannabis -- like a little resin in a pipe -- face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000. And if you're busted twice for possession, you could face up to 5 years in prison.

For these reasons, the Marijuana Policy Project says that chances of improving Alabama's marijuana laws "remain limited." Yeah, about as limited as the chances of Alabama's own Jeff 'I thought the KKK were okay till I found out they smoked pot' Sessions winning the NAACP's Image Award.

1. Idaho

Idaho is one of the few states where it's illegal to be high in public. If you're caught with THC in your system while visiting Boise, you could face up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine. And if you get caught a second time within 5 years of your first offence, you could wind up getting a year to sober up in jail.

That's fine with the locals, apparently. According to a 2014 poll, 64 percent of Idahoans opposed legalizing medical marijuana.

And that strong prohibitionist majority includes Governor "Butch" Otter, who vetoed a bill to legalize CBD (a cannabis extract that doesn't get you high) in 2015. And last February, ol' "Butch" called on President Trump to crack down on states that have defied federal prohibition by legalizing cannabis. So he and Attorney General Jeff "good people don't smoke marijuana" Sessions are pretty much BFF's now.

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Full Article: These 5 States Are the Least Likely to Legalize Marijuana
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[VexGrows]

It's a joke. They need to worry about the real issues, like our shady politicians.

Great article.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Since 2014, Nebraska and Oklahoma have been involved in lawsuits challenging Colorado's legalization regime because it's supposedly disrupting law and order in other districts. According to State Attorney General Doug Peterson, the legal market in Colorado is fuelling black markets in Nebraska and Oklahoma, which makes enforcing prohibition more difficult and expensive for those states.

Ah. My neighbor got a dog and now my kids are sneaking puppies in through their bedroom window. Therefore, I will solve the problem by shooting my neighbor's dog.

What's next, they'll decide to decrease automobile thefts by throwing everyone - who has the gall to buy a nice car - in jail?

Few states have marijuana laws that are harsher than South Dakota's.

You can face up to a year in jail for simply living in a place where marijuana is consumed. So your roommate could turn into your cellmate if he gets busted at your pad -- even if you never touched a single joint.

Quick, someone run into the SD governor's mansion and fire one up!

Anyone caught selling 1,000 pounds of marijuana or more faces a mandatory life sentence. That's a life sentence for selling a plant -- not for killing anyone or committing acts of terrorism. Just selling a plant.

Alright, who crossed cannabis with a sequoia, lofl? (And where can I get some of the seeds?)

And if 1,000 lbs. seems like a lot, keep in mind that it's the same weight as about 10 kegs of beer.

10 kegs of beer aren't worth an average of 1.87 million dollars, though. And I'm assuming that's the penalty for ONE 1,000-pound sale, not a cumulative lifetime thing. I'm guessing that such laws are on the books more for the Howard Marks "level" of people, rather than the average toker. I don't want to see anyone go to jail for selling cannabis (unless they stole it instead of grew it, or it has mold in it or the like). However, for a state in which the voters have decided this will not be considered a legal activity... It doesn't seem out of line with both the other "offenses" and the scale of this one. I'd decry the "mandatory minimum," but that does at least keep the rich from lawyering up and getting a free pass while the poorer people sit and rot in a cage.

I find all of the things mentioned in this article to be harsh and way "over the top." Not just on their own merits, but in regards to the punishments for other things that those states consider to be crimes. In some states, you might get a harsher sentence for a cannabis-related offense than for child molestation, rape, robbery, murder, et cetera.

If I was seriously involved in the industry, and lived in one of those states, I'd be heavily armed at all times, lol. I mean... What's a few more decades to the average person who's already looking at several decades in prison? And you just might get away (at least for a while) if you shoot enough people when they come to arrest you. (BtW, I consider myself to be largely non-violent in nature.)

 

[Gewber4u]

Any state that would rather pay to put you to go to jail for a plant. Instead of using its literal golden opportunity. Is a state that should really reconsider their priorities