Marijuana News in Austin and California Offers Bleak Picture of Future; Bright Line Created

I've been struck recently by two newspaper stories that deal with marijuana, one here in Austin and one in California, where so many new Austinites are originating from these days.

The first, in the Austin Democrat Statesman, notes how "Police tie motive to drugs" in the murders of 21-year-old John Goosey and 22-year-old Stacy Barnett, because 19-year-old James "Ricky" Thompson owed money to Goosey.

Make no doubts about it. The blood money was drug money.

Goosey is described by police in the story as a "midlevel drug distributor who was bringing in "substantial amounts" of marijuana, repackaging it and selling it to others." In my book, "others" equals Austin dope smokers.

Thompson owed thousands of dollars to Goosey -- ostensibly he was one of Goosey's street sellers, though the Statesman is never so bold as to say so -- and wasn't paying Goosey.

Thompson thus felt his only option to clear the debt was to wipe out Goosey. Thompson killed Barnett for good measure it appears. Poor girl.

All you Austin dope smokers have Goosey and Barnett's blood on your hands, whether you want to think so or not.

So too will President Barack Obama have blood on his hands as a result of actions his administration has taken ending federal enforcement of state marijuana laws.

Goosey and Barnett were murdered Tuesday, July 21, just two days before the Wall Street Journal published its story "With 'Med Pot' Raids Halted, Selling Grass Grows Greener," that "in February, the Justice Department said it would adhere to President Barack Obama's campaign statement that federal agents no longer would target med-pot dealers who comply with state law."

(But before I go further, let's savor the tragic irony that this president, who is trying to exert federal control of nearly every other activity known to mankind, decides to let state laws govern marijuana. Also, could it be that med-pot might become a major component of ObamaCare, if passed.)

Anyway, the law in California is that if you have a hangnail, and can get a doctor to prescribe marijuana to reduce your pain, you can legally buy marijuana from growers and distributors who are complying with state laws. Up until Obama, the Feds did not think much of the law and would make occasional raids to root out legal and illegal medical excuses in California.

Now though, thanks to Obama, we'll see what a marijuana state produces. We'll have four years of results from California to watch and learn.

Here's some questions we can ask:

• Will overall drug usage rates go up? Not just for marijuana, but other drugs as well.
• Will drug-related murders go up?
• Will industrial and commercial productivity go up or down?
• Will divorces go up or down?
• Will incarceration rates go up or down?
• People are already leaving CA in droves -- many of them coming to Austin -- so will this trend continue, reverse or increase?
• Will Californians who left California to come to the great state of Texas seek to poison Texas with medical marijuana laws in the same way they did California, and then leave?
• Will Californians, in four years, see the devastation of free-wheeling marijuana on what's left of their society, and vote for a Republican president who'll reverse course?

Now, thanks to Obama, we'll be able to ask these and many more questions about the effects of marijuana on a large population -- in this case the most populous state in the nation -- between the bright line date of February 2009 and February 2012. It's a new ingredient and deserves serious attention.

The question is, will anyone other than a little ole blogger in Texas ask any questions?