Marijuana laws- O/T

[D. Bergin]

When they first banned hemp production, because of pressure from the lumber industry, I don't think that was a step forward for society, so it's hard to argue the slide back down to me.

[teetwoohsix]

I appreciate where you are coming from Andy, many people feel the way you do.

The alchohol thing. There is no refuting the fact that alchohol has caused numerous hardships on whole communities, which is why they wanted to prohibit it back in the 20's. The people kept drinking and it created a black market, which helped create organized crime. The people were going to drink regardless, and they did. They realized they(the government) would cut the organized crime back out of the picture, regulate it, tax it, and give people the right to decide for themselves if they wanted to drink or not.

I don't drink, but I like the fact that I can if I want to. It doesn't bother me that others drink, hell, I'll buy someone a drink

If marijuana is not as destructive to society as something that is, like alchohol, why is everyone so against it being legal to adults who choose to use it?

I think if the voters in a state vote by majority to legalize it, the states voice should be recognized and let the state work out the details. Our economy could benefit from the tax dollars, which could be put into a multitude of things, like schools, hospitals, police and fire departments, transportation- which would benefit the community as a whole.

It has nothing to do with greed, it has everything to do with being realistic about people wanting the right to do it legally. Adults, with laws similar to DUI, and not using it in a public place (being respectful to the community).

Keeping it illeagal keeps creating criminals out of every day ordinary people. It also keeps giving the drug cartels just another thing to smuggle into the country to get rich off of. I guess I could go on and on, I just feel it's hypocritical to say alchohol is ok but marijuana is scheduled up there with cocaine and heroin (I know you didn't say that Andy, I'm just saying in general).

Thanks for listening,

Sincerely, Clayton

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

When they first banned hemp production, because of pressure from the lumber industry, I don't think that was a step forward for society, so it's hard to argue the slide back down to me.

It was making strides towards legalization in the 30's. However they further cracked down on it thanks to political pressure from Du Pont, because eliminating hemp, left very little competition for Nylon..

[vintagetoppsguy]

I never understood the point of getting high...or drunk for that matter. If people's lives are so pathetic that they have to alter their state of mind to escape reality, that really does say a lot about the decline of America.

[teetwoohsix]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

I never understood the point of getting high...or drunk for that matter. If people's lives are so pathetic that they have to alter their state of mind to escape reality, that really does say a lot about the decline of America.

Well, I can't explain for other people, I have no desire to do either- but I do know that people legitimately use it as medicine. It does help sick people, with many different ailments.

Others use it recreationally, like they do alchohol. And, some people's lives may be that bad- I don't know.

Sincerely, Clayton

[cubsfan-budman]

There's no end to the things that people do in order to escape reality. Hobbies for instance. Reading for another.

What's actually "pathetic" is judging others for how they choose to spend their time if it doesnt affect you one way or the other.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by cubsfan-budman

There's no end to the things that people do in order to escape reality. Hobbies for instance. Reading for another.

What's actually "pathetic" is judging others for how they choose to spend their time if it doesnt affect you one way or the other.

Well-said. Disagreeing is one thing - insulting people because its the only way to make your point, is another.

[glchen]

I didn't read through all of the posts and I don't want to get into a long discussion on this, but I personally believe that marijuana is worse than alcohol. The reason that people think that alcohol is worse is because it's legal. If you completely legalize pot, can you imagine what could happen if you have one of those mega corps the size of the beer companies commercializing this? If every 15 minutes on TV, you saw a commercial trying to convince you to buy this brand of pot or this other brand?

The other comparison is to cigarettes. I think it'd only be a matter of time before legalized pot goes down the road of smoking where the government puts all of these warning labels on cigarette packs. It'd be the same thing w/ pot.

Finally, I think marijuana would be the first step for many users to the road of harder drugs like cocaine. Pretty soon, you would want a bigger hit.

I'm fine w/ medical use for those who need it for pain relief. However, recreationally, I don't think so.

Edited to add: Alcohol is in another realm because there are thousands of years of Western and Asian history of drinking alcohol. I wouldn't be surprised if cavemen drank regularly. However, the history of different cultures smoking pot is minuscule.

[vintagetoppsguy]

I don't think anybody is going to say anything that changes someone's opinion one way or the other. You're either for it or against it. Perhaps Leon could post a poll and the Net54 community could have our own vote

[cubsfan-budman]

Originally Posted by glchen

I didn't read through all of the posts and I don't want to get into a long discussion on this, but I personally believe that marijuana is worse than alcohol. The reason that people think that alcohol is worse is because it's legal. If you completely legalize pot, can you imagine what could happen if you have one of those mega corps the size of the beer companies commercializing this? If every 15 minutes on TV, you saw a commercial trying to convince you to buy this brand of pot or this other brand?

The other comparison is to cigarettes. I think it'd only be a matter of time before legalized pot goes down the road of smoking where the government puts all of these warning labels on cigarette packs. It'd be the same thing w/ pot.

Finally, I think marijuana would be the first step for many users to the road of harder drugs like cocaine. Pretty soon, you would want a bigger hit.

I'm fine w/ medical use for those who need it for pain relief. However, recreationally, I don't think so.

Edited to add: Alcohol is in another realm because there are thousands of years of Western and Asian history of drinking alcohol. I wouldn't be surprised if cavemen drank regularly. However, the history of different cultures smoking pot is minuscule.

I don't know you or anything about your experiences, but this sounds like the words of someone who's never tried marijuana. Marijuana and cocaine are completely different. Someone who was interested in the "high" that marijuana gives them wouldn't look to cocaine for something similar. That's like saying that drinking coffee makes you want to try cocaine. They're far more alike.

From *MY* experience, the whole "gateway drug" notion is a sham...something that came with the whole "Reefer Madness" culture, which is based on misinformation about pot.

(Full disclosure, I do not smoke pot and haven't for nearly 10 years)

[packs]

Originally Posted by glchen

I didn't read through all of the posts and I don't want to get into a long discussion on this, but I personally believe that marijuana is worse than alcohol. The reason that people think that alcohol is worse is because it's legal. If you completely legalize pot, can you imagine what could happen if you have one of those mega corps the size of the beer companies commercializing this? If every 15 minutes on TV, you saw a commercial trying to convince you to buy this brand of pot or this other brand?

Finally, I think marijuana would be the first step for many users to the road of harder drugs like cocaine. Pretty soon, you would want a bigger hit.

Edited to add: Alcohol is in another realm because there are thousands of years of Western and Asian history of drinking alcohol. I wouldn't be surprised if cavemen drank regularly. However, the history of different cultures smoking pot is minuscule.

I have to disagree with all these points. Beer commercials are on TV aren't they? Last year the WHO said alcohol killed approximately 2.5 million people. How can that not be worse?

Marijuana as a gateway drug was invented in the 90s by anti-drug companies, most of which were being subsidized by alcohol and tobacco companies.

Marijuana is a naturally growing plant that has been on this continent for at least 2,000 years and has been used medicinally by native cultures for just as long, if not longer than alcohol.

[Sean1125]

Originally Posted by glchen

I didn't read through all of the posts and I don't want to get into a long discussion on this, but I personally believe that marijuana is worse than alcohol. The reason that people think that alcohol is worse is because it's legal. If you completely legalize pot, can you imagine what could happen if you have one of those mega corps the size of the beer companies commercializing this? If every 15 minutes on TV, you saw a commercial trying to convince you to buy this brand of pot or this other brand?

The other comparison is to cigarettes. I think it'd only be a matter of time before legalized pot goes down the road of smoking where the government puts all of these warning labels on cigarette packs. It'd be the same thing w/ pot.

Finally, I think marijuana would be the first step for many users to the road of harder drugs like cocaine. Pretty soon, you would want a bigger hit.

I'm fine w/ medical use for those who need it for pain relief. However, recreationally, I don't think so.

Edited to add: Alcohol is in another realm because there are thousands of years of Western and Asian history of drinking alcohol. I wouldn't be surprised if cavemen drank regularly. However, the history of different cultures smoking pot is minuscule.

The earliest known inhaled (smoked) cannabis use occured about 3000 years BCE, alcohol is roughly 4000 BCE. In terms of actual time between the two in history, we have been using marijuana for about 5000 years and alcohol for 6000 I believe the difference isn't incredible in terms of history.

[tbob]

Not a pot smoker, never was but I weigh in on the legalization side. It just makes too much sense, see above.
As far as the DWI testing, a simple urine test and a drug strip has inherent problems because THC can stay in your system up to 30 days and a person could smoke a joint and 2 weeks later be caught for supposedly driving under the influence and the known drug tests won't work. There needs to be an effective test and cost effective but it can be done.
One last thought- I come from one of the reddest of the red states and yet the voters of the State narrowly voted down medical marijuana by a 51-49 vote and that was after the pharmaceutical industry spent a fortune in ads to try and defeat it. If our State could almost pass it and become the first State in the South to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, it is evident the tide is turning.

[novakjr]

I think the pharmaceutical companies have their hand in the pot(no pun intended) this time... Working in the trades, I've know plenty of people who use it as a natural painkiller to get through the day. It's gotta be better than keeping yourself hopped up on pills. I don't do either, but I'm not one to judge, I just kept my distance for potential safety reasons.. But that's a whole other discussion..

Back to the task at hand now. Full legalization could potentially lead to more people self-medicating(this can be good or bad depending on your viewpoint, I just see it as they're doing it anyway). I think that could potentially have a positive effect on the health-care system, if people aren't going to the doctors just to get prescriptions for pain-pills as often.

[steve B]

Quite a lot of ground to cover. I'd thought about individual replies, but it would just be a mess.

I find it incredibly odd that it's being pushed towards legality at a time when
Smokes can be sued for secondhand smoke by someone in the apartment next door.
Cities will ban Pate(Boston), using oil with trans fats in the deep frier(Boston), soft drinks larger than 20 oz?(NYC), donating canned food to homeless shelters(NYC), Bottled WATER(Concord Ma) Among other things.
Seriously, we're banning soda, but pot is just fine?!

The overall attitude here surprises me. Nearly everyone is very down on McGwire, Canseco, Sosa, and a bunch of others for taking stuff that was
A)probably Illegal although some of it could have been bought at GNC.
B)Not specifically against the rules - Baseball had rules about illegal substances, but NONE against performance enhancing substances at the time.
But Pot? Which is
A) Illegal
B) Banned by all sports under WADA
Should be legalized and is more than ok to smoke even if it isn't yet legal


As far as it not being any worse than alcohol or tobacco.
It's worse, if only because it has the worst features of each.
Dulls the senses AND messes with the lungs.
What do people die of most in fires? Smoke inhalation.
What's the primary form of using pot? Smoke inhalation.
Nuff ced on that.
(had to slide some bit of baseball refernce in somehow)

While I was in High school and from what I've heard the available stuff wasn't anywhere near as good as what's around now, there was a crash involving a van and kids the next town over. All high, 12 in the van something like 8 killed.
Last year a guy was rescued after he fell into the tracks on the red line. On his way home from hempfest. He was pulled out just before the train came.
Even the drunks know better than to stagger close to the edge.

I don't know of anyone jailed for some tiny amount. Maybe that's just a Mass thing, but it's usually allowed to slide with a ticket or plea bargained. The guys who go to Jail are usually the ones being d**** about getting caught. Just like everything else, if you're respectful and not lying or evasive it usually goes ok.
As of last year small ammounts aren't dealt with at all here.

To be sure, there are some advantages to making it legal. Being able to tax it is one thing, making it traceable is another. Now there's no telling who's actually making the money, the only thing likely is that whoever that is isn't all that nice.
Even the domestic growers cause problems that might not go away with legalization. I'm not sure if it's online, but the Holmes on homes episode where they rehabbed a growhouse that had been rented was astounding. Tapped off the underground main electrical feed, built tunnels to vent the house to somewhere to hide the odor plus a massive ammount of mold from the humidity. And that's in Canada.

Prohibition didn't create organized crime. It was exploited very profitably by organized crime, which was already around.
Prohibition may have sort of created NASCAR........I'm ok with that, others may not be.

And just to lighten up a bit. While I've never smoked friends did. (I was the guy who stayed straight so they wouldn't get lost in the woods or drown in the pool)
And even I think that the band that covered Peter Toshs "I smoke two joints" made the pace way too fast.

Steve B

[t210]

I think marijuana should be legalized. There are about 90 or so dispensaries within a 65 mile radius of where I live. For California it's a new faucet of income. The cities generally charge a 2-3% sub tax along with the current sales tax for the businesses that are in the marijuana dispensary industry. Marijuana will always be here. Consumed and sold. So some people figured why not tax it and generate some revenue for the states.

It's safer to buy it in a store than have to go to some street corner and possibly get robbed. Or lose your life. Get the criminals out of the picture.

Some people use it for ailments, recreational use or just simply want to relax. Like you would with a beer or a glass of wine.

Obama, Bush, Clinton and Reagan's wife have used marijuana just to name a few. So what does that mean? That Marijuana users can even become president of this great nation. Thank goodness I don't have to start naming congressman, senators or governers because I would be here all day.

Eric P.

[travrosty]

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[travrosty]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

I never understood the point of getting high...or drunk for that matter. If people's lives are so pathetic that they have to alter their state of mind to escape reality, that really does say a lot about the decline of America.

james, i agree. good point, i am against legalizing pot, we don't need it. i am high on life.