Attorney Frederick bats for Pot Legalization in Tennessee

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on January 08, 2015.

As the debate over legalization of marijuana has gained momentum with more states joining the chorus, Frederick H. Agee of Nashville, who is an Attorney and veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, has called for legalization of pot in Tennessee. In an article on Tennessean.com, Fredrick has cited several reasons and arguments to back his claim. Will be there any takers?

Taking a dig at the Americal law, Frederick draws attention to the fact that the United States have spent an estimated $1 trillion from the taxpaayers' money to fight the war and defeat the lowly cannabis plant. Slowly, states like Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington as well as 70 percent of voters in Washington D.C. have realized this futility and have legalized recreational marijuana use. The 109th Tennessee General Assembly should do the same," he argued.

According to him, Colorado collected approximately $40 million last year in marijuana taxes, while saving another $40 million from not prosecuting and incarcerating marijuana users. "That has shown the way to all," he said. If Colorado can establish a marijuana market, which gave high opportunity to the entrepreneurs to start businesses and create jobs for people, why others can't follow suit, he asked. "Tennessee can follow the Colorado model, it can earn millions of dollars additional revenue while creating a new market for economic growth," said Frederick.

While talking about Tennessee, he lamented that the state is spending millions of dollars in prosecution, conviction and imprisonment of people convicted of marijuana and other drug offenses. He refused to justify the act and said there has been an increase in violence in the Tennessee over the last few years and the state has been in the top five most violent states, as the cops and law enforcement agencies waste their time and energy on drug related cases. "What we want today? keeping violent criminals out of our communities or nonviolent marijuana offenders? he asked.

"If we claim to care for the lives of our children, why not follow more than 25 states and legalize medical marijuana? Instead, our laws force Tennessee parents to take refuge in states like Colorado in order to obtain marijuana medications for children suffering from ailments like epileptic seizures", he said.

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