Looks like Kevin Orr has a new job

[professorscott]

Are you a Professor at Calvin College? Why take a shot at Marijuana?

..Are you a believer that its the job of government to cleanse/restrict us of anything harmful?

Do they "restrict" doctors who over-prescribe deadly medications, only to see kids overdose?

The answer is NO, so go worry about the things that can kill kids in a matter of minutes and quit trying to propagate Bill Schuette's viewpoint on this board..

Sorry, D, but you misunderstand your kindly old Professor. I'm not in the least opposed to marijuana per se; go and smoke all you want. My asthma prevents my joining you. My opposition is to the idea that marijuana is going to be a long term economic wunderkind for this or that jurisdiction [[we are already seeing a spike in "pot tourism" in Colorado). The problem with that as it relates to gambling, marijuana or any other vice-as-economy is that saturation occurs pretty quickly. Atlantic City had an astonishing long run basing its entire economy on gambling, nearly 40 years. The economic high from pot [[sorry, couldn't help myself) won't last as long; things move more quickly now.

[Dbest]

Sorry, D, but you misunderstand your kindly old Professor. I'm not in the least opposed to marijuana per se; go and smoke all you want. My asthma prevents my joining you. My opposition is to the idea that marijuana is going to be a long term economic wunderkind for this or that jurisdiction [[we are already seeing a spike in "pot tourism" in Colorado). The problem with that as it relates to gambling, marijuana or any other vice-as-economy is that saturation occurs pretty quickly. Atlantic City had an astonishing long run basing its entire economy on gambling, nearly 40 years. The economic high from pot [[sorry, couldn't help myself) won't last as long; things move more quickly now.

Prof, sorry for my reading comprehension difficulties this morning...

I see what you are getting at... I think you are right about MJ not being a "savior" per se, but in terms of it being a sustainable industry? I think it will be around for years to come.

Alcohol sales spiked during the most recent downturns in our economy, the same cant be said for gambling. At one time the Casino industry was viewed as recession proof, that view is slowly changing. Couple this with total over-saturation and you have Atlantic City. Not to mention Las Vegas has had a rougher go of it the last 5 years.

As for legalized prostitution? This should have been done years ago with a system that emulates the Dutch. The women are tested regularly, have security, and privacy.

Or the alternative here: Women walking around in skimpy clothing in areas most people wouldnt be caught dead in past sun-down. Kids possibly being exposed to this stuff in their home in some cases. Not mention the increased risk the person looking for a prostitute goes through, with a chance of being robbed or worse...

The Black market is simply too big to ignore at this point and the method of trying to eliminate drugs/prostitution has proven to be a huge waste of resources. Confine it to areas and police the rest. Ala Amsterdam... It would be a huge shot in the arm[[no pun intended) for many crime challenged inner city areas..

[Wesley Mouch]

Prof, sorry for my reading comprehension difficulties this morning...

I see what you are getting at... I think you are right about MJ not being a "savior" per se, but in terms of it being a sustainable industry? I think it will be around for years to come.

Alcohol sales spiked during the most recent downturns in our economy, the same cant be said for gambling. At one time the Casino industry was viewed as recession proof, that view is slowly changing. Couple this with total over-saturation and you have Atlantic City. Not to mention Las Vegas has had a rougher go of it the last 5 years.

As for legalized prostitution? This should have been done years ago with a system that emulates the Dutch. The women are tested regularly, have security, and privacy.

Or the alternative here: Women walking around in skimpy clothing in areas most people wouldnt be caught dead in past sun-down. Kids possibly being exposed to this stuff in their home in some cases. Not mention the increased risk the person looking for a prostitute goes through, with a chance of being robbed or worse...

The Black market is simply too big to ignore at this point and the method of trying to eliminate drugs/prostitution has proven to be a huge waste of resources. Confine it to areas and police the rest. Ala Amsterdam... It would be a huge shot in the arm[[no pun intended) for many crime challenged inner city areas..

I agree with you. The prof's post didn't advocate against vice, but only that we shouldn't view vice as a savior for cities. There I also agree.

Vice, managed, is appropriate in society. I wouldn't ever view it as a path to success, as in Detroit and AC. Detroit is fortunate that vice [[casino) is only a smaller part of our downtown economy; AC got the 'vice cure' worse that we did.

But that said, I think casinos and vice did play an important part in Detroit's revitalization. They proved that downtown was not an obstacle to viable commerce, much like the Fox Theater proved in the 80s.

[ABetterDetroit]

To bad we couldn't have kept him and moved him over to DPS. If he had brought a quarter of the charitable foundations money to the schools that he brought to detroits bankruptcy it would have been fantastic for the kids in Detroit.

[Wesley Mouch]

To bad we couldn't have kept him and moved him over to DPS. If he had brought a quarter of the charitable foundations money to the schools that he brought to detroits bankruptcy it would have been fantastic for the kids in Detroit.

I would have assumed that there was already lots of charitable foundation giving to schools in Detroit. Does anyone know how much?

[Scottathew]

Alcohol sales spiked during the most recent downturns in our economy, the same cant be said for gambling. At one time the Casino industry was viewed as recession proof, that view is slowly changing. Couple this with total over-saturation and you have Atlantic City. Not to mention Las Vegas has had a rougher go of it the last 5 years.

As for legalized prostitution? This should have been done years ago with a system that emulates the Dutch. The women are tested regularly, have security, and privacy.

Or the alternative here: Women walking around in skimpy clothing in areas most people wouldnt be caught dead in past sun-down. Kids possibly being exposed to this stuff in their home in some cases. Not mention the increased risk the person looking for a prostitute goes through, with a chance of being robbed or worse...

The Black market is simply too big to ignore at this point and the method of trying to eliminate drugs/prostitution has proven to be a huge waste of resources. Confine it to areas and police the rest. Ala Amsterdam... It would be a huge shot in the arm[[no pun intended) for many crime challenged inner city areas..

If we decriminalize prostitution we'll have safer and healthier communities. Prostitution is a victim-less crime, between two willing adults.

If we decriminalize marijuana, we can keep a lot of cash inside of our borders, and not flowing into Mexico. We'll be able to help the out of control drug-gang situation in Mexico by helping to cut off the money flow. We'll also have less health issues when people use regulated marijuana that isn't sold in a black market.

Also, decriminalizing both marijuana and prostitution will allow us to focus our law enforcement and judicial system on actual criminals. We'll save money, and be focused on crimes that have victims and are violent.

And the beauty of it all is that I still won't have to use prostitutes or drugs, because I'm a free person with my own free will, and I can prioritize my efforts on raising my children and living a fruitful life with my wife. Forcing other people to live the way I want to doesn't make my life any better.

[Dbest]

If we decriminalize prostitution we'll have safer and healthier communities. Prostitution is a victim-less crime, between two willing adults.

If we decriminalize marijuana, we can keep a lot of cash inside of our borders, and not flowing into Mexico. We'll be able to help the out of control drug-gang situation in Mexico by helping to cut off the money flow. We'll also have less health issues when people use regulated marijuana that isn't sold in a black market.

Also, decriminalizing both marijuana and prostitution will allow us to focus our law enforcement and judicial system on actual criminals. We'll save money, and be focused on crimes that have victims and are violent.

And the beauty of it all is that I still won't have to use prostitutes or drugs, because I'm a free person with my own free will, and I can prioritize my efforts on raising my children and living a fruitful life with my wife. Forcing other people to live the way I want to doesn't make my life any better.

Nice takes...I'm going to take a guess that you are in your mid to late 30's? I could only hope a young independent presidential candidate could galvanize the masses into really freeing up the gridlock in Washington.. It seems that much of the worlds problems revolve around the US governments unwillingness to accept the realities of society... Your reference to Mexico is a perfect example of the collateral damage inflicted by policy in Washington. The fact that so much if its intertwined with US multinational companies makes it even harder to swallow...

As for the recent developments regarding Marijuana, I think Michigan has done well to position themselves as a possible hub for the Midwest. Collectively it could be[[if its not already) a viable cottage industry spread throughout the state, kind of like micro-brews. I think some hash-bars downtown could do quite well, maybe even a pocket district on the outskirts of downtown if not center city...