Recreational Marijuana...on the Doorstep in Utah

I started this post a couple days ago with only the title. I decided to finish it and was going to look up some past statements by the Church regarding the medical marijuana initiative, that will be on Utah's ballot in the upcoming election.

I opened KSL and today's lead article (at least at this time) is

Shutterstock.com

LDS Church issues statement regarding Utah Medical Marijuana Initiative

 https://www.ksl.com/?sid=46318852&nid=148&title=lds-church-issues-statement-regarding-utah-medical-marijuana-initiative

Here's the article:

"The proposed Utah Medical Marijuana Initiative is a matter of great controversy in this state. The negative effects and consequences of marijuana use on individuals, families, and society at large are well-known. There are also those who claim that it has medicinal benefits for those in some circumstances.
"Accordingly, the Church asked a Salt Lake City law firm for a legal analysis of the proposed initiative to be submitted to the voters next fall. We wanted to know what the initiative would actually do, if adopted. The law firm’s memorandum with its analysis follows. That memorandum raises grave concerns about this initiative and the serious adverse consequences that could follow if it were adopted. We invite all to read the attached memorandum and to make their own judgment."

Unsurprisingly, here are the first three comments (the only three as of this writing, but the first of probably hundreds which will mostly be similar):

lazlotlomax · 8 minutes ago
How does the church even have a say in this matter as though they are legislators? #seperationofchurchandstate

brunolopez90 · 7 minutes ago
It's unethical and incredible unchristian for the LDS church to slander this great medicine.
Please join us with the scientific method in the 21st century and stop hurting our families.

pianicholas · 7 minutes ago
Keep religion out of politics or drop the tax exempt status and start to pay taxes.

I'm sure by the time I finish this post there will be a number of additional comments.

Here's the subheads from the legal analysis:

Legal Analysis of Utah Medical Marijuana Initiative

https://www.scribd.com/document/378959648/Legal-Analysis-of-Utah-Medical-Marijuana-Initiative#from_embed

• The Marijuana Initiative Will Allow Some People to Grow Their Own Marijuana
• The Marijuana Initiative Will Allow People Who Grow Their Own Marijuana to Evade Purchase and Use Limits
• The Marijuana Initiative Will Create Significant Challenges for Law Enforcement
• The Marijuana Initiative Requires Medical Marijuana to Be Sold Through Marijuana Dispensaries, Not Licensed Pharmacies.
• The Marijuana Initiative Requires the State to Destroy Records of Cannabis Sales after 60 Days, which Will Hamper Law Enforcement.
• The Marijuana Initiative Allows Dispensaries to Give Free Samples to Medical Cannabis Cardholders.
• Under the Marijuana Initiative, Large Numbers of Utahans Will Likely Qualify for Medical Cannabis Cards
• The Marijuana Initiative Allows a Person With a Criminal Background, Including Drug Convictions, to Get a Medical Cannabis Card
• The Marijuana Initiative Allows Marijuana Use for Conditions That Are Common but Difficult to Verify and Diagnose.
• The Marijuana Initiative Allows Patients to Get a Recommendation from a Physician Based on a One-time Visit.
• The Marijuana Initiative Will Allow a Small Number of Physicians to Give a Large Number of Recommendations.
• The Marijuana Initiative Does Not Require Physicians Providing a Recommendation to Have Any Training or Experience with the Effects of Marijuana or Even the Illness Being Treated
• The Marijuana Initiative Does Not Require a Prescription.
• The Marijuana Initiative Does Not Require Monitoring of the Medical Effects of Marijuana Usage on Particular Patients
• The Marijuana Initiative Prohibits Accountability for Physicians
• The Marijuana Initiative Allows Minors to Use Medical Marijuana.
• The Marijuana Initiative Will Make Marijuana More Accessible to Minors
• If the Marijuana Initiative Passes, Most Users of Medical Marijuana Will Likely Be Younger People.
• The Marijuana Initiative Immediately Legalizes Marijuana Possession Before Medical Cannabis Cards Are Distributed (which is after July 1, 2020)
• The Marijuana Initiative Immediately Legalizes Possession By a Person With a Medical Marijuana Card from Another State
• The Marijuana Initiative Prohibits Landlords from Refusing to Rent to Medical Marijuana Users.
• The Marijuana Initiative Prohibits Local Zoning Ordinances Targeted at Marijuana Dispensaries
• The Marijuana Initiative Prohibits Local Law Enforcement from Cooperating With Federal Authorities Enforcing Federal Laws that Are Violated by Legal Use of Cannabis in Utah
• The Marijuana Initiative Only Requires Cannabis Dispensaries to Be 300 feet (One Football Field) from Residential Neighborhoods and Only 600 Feet from Schools, Churches, Libraries, Parks, and Playgrounds.
• The Marijuana Initiative Could Weaken Penalties for Causing Serious Bodily Injury while Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of Marijuana
• The Marijuana Initiative Requires Science to Be Ignored

--The Initiative tasks the Cannabinoid Product Board (Utah Code § 26-61-201) with reviewing studies regarding the efficacy of cannabis treatment. This Board can “develop guidelines for treatment with cannabis” but those guidelines “may not limit the availability of cannabis” for any reason, even if further studies conclude marijuana use is more dangerous than currently known or is ineffective in treating any of the qualifying illnesses. (Section 26-61-202(6).)

• The Legislature May Choose Not to Remedy Unintended Consequences.

And because "Marijuana Cultivation, Distribution, and Possession are Federal Crimes with Stern Penalties" the following will also be realities:

• The Marijuana Initiative Will Put Utahans at Serious Risk of Federal Prosecution
• Gun Owners Who Rely on the Marijuana Initiative May Face Severe Federal Sentences.
• Immigrants Who Rely on the Marijuana Initiative Could Harm Their Immigration Status.

As a side note, in the time it took to write the above, most of which was copy and pasting subheadings, there are now 122 comments on the article. I haven't read all of them, but most are blasting the Church for trying to influence politics, being against helping people who could benefit from medical marijuana, and similar statements.

After reading more of the comments, still not all, I am even more convinced that the passage of medical marijuana, especially this initiative, is a litmus test that can tell us whether the majority of people in Utah will support, uphold, permit, and even participate in wickedness and abominations.

I am NOT saying there is no purpose for marijuana, nor that there is not valid medical use for marijuana. I believe there is.

But, most people cannot control their appetites and often go to extremes. It is much better to highly restrict something, or even prohibit it, than to open it up for use.

This Initiative does little to ensure marijuana is not misused, and it severely limits local enforcement of any marijuana laws.

The Medical Marijuana Initiative is being marketed as medical marijuana for those people who need a "better" alternative to convention medications and treatment. Anyone against this initiative are, and will be, portrayed as being against providing "safe" and "effective" use of marijuana for medical purposes.

But, with the way this law has been crafted (and it was crafted intentionally this way) is to essentially allow for the use and legalization of recreational marijuana.

If you don't believe it will open the doors to recreational use, read the legal analysis. You could even just read the Initiative, https://www.utahpatients.org/initiative/ By the way, don't just read the summary as it's designed to highlight only to good parts and not the specifics.

Now there are 187 comments, and the article has been updated to include the following:

The 31-point analysis referred to by the LDS Church, completed by the Salt Lake law firm Kirton McConkie, can be viewed here.

"The analysis contends that the initiative would require the state "to destroy records of cannabis sales after 60 days, which will hamper law enforcement."
"It also raises concerns about where Utahns would buy marijuana, saying that 'as far as we can determine, marijuana would be the only serious controlled substance in Utah sold for alleged medicinal purposes without a prescription and outside of licensed pharmacies.'
"Under the initiative, the Kirton McConkie analysis says, illnesses that would qualify a person for a medical cannabis card include 'conditions that are difficult to diagnose and can afflict many people in varying degrees, such as 'chronic pain,' which by some estimates includes over 15 (percent) of the population.'
"The document outlines concerns that a large amount of marijuana could be recommended by a small group of doctors, claiming that about 70 percent of such recommendations in Colorado have been made by fewer than 15 physicians.
"The report also states it is worried that the initiative "doesn't require physicians .... to have any training or experience with the effects of marijuana."
"The analysis also contends that research from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 'reveals that marijuana usage among children ... is generally significantly higher in states that have legalized recreational and medicinal use.'
"Supporters of the initiative have argued that it is one of the most conservative medical marijuana measures in the United States in terms of what types of marijuana use it allows and how an ill person can qualify for it.
"In a response to the LDS Church statement Friday, Utah Patients Coalition director DJ Schanz said 'current law has 'serious adverse consequences' for thousands of sick patients who are either illegally using cannabis to improve their health, or those who want to but suffer to obey the law.'
"'Our tightly controlled proposal — one of the most conservative in the country — preserves the doctor-patient relationship and ensures that those who need this God-given plant for medicinal purposes can use it without fear of criminal punishment.'
"Schanz has previously said the measure is based on sound research from around the world, indicating marijuana is a safe and medically beneficial substance."

 There will be many who will vote yes for the initiative who have not bothered to read it. They will be sold by the proponents who use the good talking points that most people can agree on, but they won't mention specifics or unintended consequences (or are they actually intended?).

If this passes (I will be voting against it) which I think it probably will, it will show that the majority of those in the state are supportive of evil, or are willing to give evil "rights" in this land.

The Church has great concerns with this Initiative. How many will vote for it just because the Church is against it?

How many will actually read the legal analysis? Few. Most will just read the article. Some will make a comment.

How many will actually read the Initiative? Very few. Most will blindly accept what the proponents tell them, which means they are guilty of accepting whatever consequences come from the passage of the Initiative.

If this Initiative passes, I believe it is indicative that that majority of Church members are no longer faithful and no longer follow the prophet. It will show that they are more concerned with what the world thinks of them. It will also open up the area to increasing destruction.

On November 20, 2016, I had a post titled "When the majority of members turn away from God" http://fulnessoftimes.blogspot.com/2016/11/when-majority-of-members-turn-away-from.html in which I quoted Brigham Young. Here is that quote:

"...we read that war, pestilence, plagues, famine, etc. will be visited upon the inhabitants of the earth; but if distress through the judgments of God comes upon this people, it will be because the majority have turned away from the Lord. Let the majority of the people turn away from the Holy Commandments which the Lord has delivered to us, and cease to hold the balance of power in the Church, and we may expect the judgments of God to come upon us; but while six-tenths or three-fourths of this people will keep the commandments of God, the curse and judgments of the Almighty , will never come upon them, though we will have trials of various kinds, and the elements to contend with--natural and spiritual elements. While this people will strive to serve God according to the best of their abilities, they will fare better, have more to eat and to wear, have better houses to live in, better associations, and enjoy themselves better than the wicked ever do or ever will do." (quoted from Journal of Discourses, 10:335-336)."

I believe the passage of this Initiative will indicate that the majority of the LDS people (at least in Utah) have turned away from the Lord and we can begin to expect the judgments of God to come.

The prayers of the righteous will help reduce some of the severity of judgments, but only to a certain extent. Eventually the people, generally speaking, will become too wicked, and the righteous, if they want to be saved, will have to separate themselves from the wicked or they will be destroyed as well.

I'm not sure of the when the proposed bill would take effect, but by 2020 many of the provisions would be in effect. Unless the legislature does something to change it--which they are unlikely to do--my guess is the following:

2019 will be the first year, although there may not be much more than mostly legitimate medical use. There will be some pushing the limits for recreational use, but probably not too much.

2020 will see a big increase in marijuana use. Both medical and recreational. The recreational probably won't be too much of a problem as many of the particulars of the law will be worked out.

2021 will probably see a dramatic increase in recreational use, with very little legal repercussions due to the way the law is worded and various court cases over the previous couple years. Recreational use still (probably) won't be officially legal, but it will be prevalent.

If the Initiative passes, I expect the first big earthquake as early as this November (maybe the weekend after the Initiative passes) but it may not happen until after the law goes into full effect (and after the legislature has had two sessions to try to correct deficiencies in the law), which seems to be in the spring of 2020.

Combine this with possible recession/depression beginning around that time, and an increasing drought/famine, and it would be very wise to get better prepared.

Last note, I refreshed the KSL article...there are now 258 comments.