Legalize that Obnoxious Weed?

[9876543210]

Well, I guess I'm elected.

Over the last several months its become clear in the US that that old obnoxious weed (I think thats from an old Seinfeld episode), marijuana, is in the process of being legalized.

To this date two states (Washington and Colorado) have legalized the substance for all users in various amounts and, roughly, 20 other states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana for those that need it.

This seems to be a darn important societal change in the US and really needs to be documented and evaluated. This could be a really historic change not only in the US, but elsewhere if the US were to legalize it.

So, just to get started, I have a bit of experience with the weed way back in the 60's, 70's and early 80's but haven't done much with it since. Not that I wouldn't again if it were legalized. My "opinion" is that it should have been legalized long ago as it is certainly less harmful than alcohol and certainly less addictive than tobacco.

I have seen, twice, that it can help people with cancer in alleviating pain and nausea. One guys appetite actually improved quite a bit to the point where it seemed he was doing OK until the cancer finally got him.

So, I'm fairly open to whatever but I don't think long winded expressions of how high you got this one time will be all that helpful. If something is happening in your local community, state or country (good or bad) keep us informed.

This should be interesting.

[Beaker]

You may find that your belief that
"it is certainly less harmful than alcohol and certainly less addictive than tobacco."
will not go unchallenged not least by me.
Even if it were to be correct
...less harmful than....
is absolutely no justification at all, and rightly implicitly states it is harmful,
but just less so.
There seems to be a premise here that we are obliged to have recreational drugs, and must make a choice of which ones to have at our disposal.
Each of those choices should be made on there own risk/benefit analysis and if it means there are no recreational drugs as none of them passes that test then so be it.
Simply saying well "a" is less harmful than "b" is no justification of "a" at all
The harmful effects to many people's psychological well being are well documented.
I'm glad to hear that you don't believe you have been harmed, and I sincerely hope that is true, but there are many others who have not been so fortunate.
The brain is a very delicate organ and should be respected.
There are many clinicians who believe the fact that the drug is currently illegal means that the effects are under reported as patients don't always admit to having used it
This is arguably another reason for legalisation and one I don't necessarily disagree with.
It is also a valid argument that the law is there to protect individuals in society from each other and not from themselves and therefore the law has no right to interfere with an individuals choice to take drugs
However, we have got used to the law protecting us from ourselves too and legalisation can be interpreted as acknowledgment that it is not harmful which is perceived as sending out the wrong message to society
I also think it is important to distinguish between the proven beneficial pharmacological effects that you rightly bring to our attention and potentially widespread recreational use
There are plenty of drugs which have formerly been used for recreational use in man's murky past which have been banned for use recreationaly but are still invaluable clinically.

[buttsie]

Educating the naive youngsters as to the dangers is still a better way to go
rather than a total ban

The rebels just love using banned substances....as they always have

All banning has ever done is to drive the issue under ground...prohibition in the 30s

Not a smart option

Decriminalising dope for personal use rather than legalizing is a smarter first step option
which other states may follow eventually

You wont ever stop it getting in as the number of containers through the ports that never get checked is astronomical.

This isnt a bad article representing a neutral view of the pros and cons

Why medicinal use is a given pro - downsides do exist

Anonym zu www.healthcentral.com/copd/c/89783/34522/marajuana





I had a friend who had 2 stints in hospital with ulcerated lungs because of his smoking a lot 3 times a day over a prolonged period...didnt make him give it up...even after the 2nd bout
which should tell most how silly banning the stuff is

He was from a rich family who had contacts

Silly git was a dealer for 3 months and made himself 30,000 dollars
A user dealing - never a pretty sight - he backed his car up to the gates of a beer garden once opened the boot and started selling dope - thats when I dropped him as a friend as he'd clearly lost the plot...never once thought that any of the 30 people in there could have been Police


The really curious thing about Dope is the iconic Cheech and Chong were little more than comedians who got a laugh from the material so played it up

Americas obesity issue might be because of Dope given the MUNCHIES...LOL...Could be
Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke Dope Movie Trailer 1978

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qg99CtSjIc

[richardoe]

Its all very well legalising the stuff, but what happens when some one cant afford to pay for their marijuana? I would guess that they will do what they do now and commit crime to pay for it. There is also the problem of skunk which is far stronger than the grass of he sixties.

[keefriff]

Errr.......um...........I know it may come as a surprise to many but I have a little experience in this area.

I smoke the ganja to this day. Have for a long time. Don't drink alcohol to excess and haven't used any hard drugs in many, many moons. It is like anything else in our world, if used to excess it is a bad thing. When used responsibly it is a fairly benign problem. It has been bad for me in my life and at times it has helped me in some ways. I look at it now as a lesser of all evils for me considering my past history.

In the US, it is still illegal on the Federal level to possess and grow marijuana. It is considered a Schedule I Narcotic. The Federal government could come in at any time and arrest the growers and sellers in Washington and Colorado if they chose to. This administration has taken the path of least resistance and is willing to turn a blind eye as this "test run" happens in these States. The scheduling of marijuana as a Class I Narcotic on the Federal level is a complete and utter joke. It is listed as a Class I along with heroin, LSD and peyote. To equate any of these too marijuana is ridiculous. Schedule II drugs include cocaine and meth and all sorts of prescription drugs. Now as someone who has dabbled and seen the results on people lives in terms of addiction, marijuana is not even close in the danger and damage that meth, cocaine and prescription drugs does to our society. They are not even comparable and yet the Feds consider marijuana worse than all of them. Smoking dope worse than smoking cocaine or meth? C'mon.....that's just so stupid it makes their whole argument a joke.

I read in the paper today about a nice middle aged lady who embezzled 50 K from her work so she could spend it at Casinos and pay for lottery tickets. I also read in the obituaries about the guy who died at age 56 from cancer after smoking cigarettes for 40 years. Then there was the guy who was so shit-faced he fell asleep on the railroad tracks and had his legs amputated by a train. So alcohol, legalized gambling and tobacco are legal vices and in the case of gambling a state sponsored vice. Well hell if you really look at it they are all state sponsored vices. Tobacco farmers get subsidies from the Government. The Government gives subsidies and kowtows to the alcohol industry whenever they can. But smoking weed is a crime. Maybe when the Weed lobby gets some political power and the Pols see the money rolling in they will change their opinion.

And that brings me too medical marijuana. Could it be that Big Pharm doesn't want medical marijuana? Could it be that Pols might be accepting donations from Big Pharm and might not like to see the evil weed made legal? I would hate to think that was behind it. Because it is clear that medical marijuana has many benefits. Wait until the money streams in and then we will see what happens with medicinal. Big Pharm and Big Business will see the money and be on board soon and then the Pols will be preaching the benefits.

I have attended many concerts and many sporting events. The events that are without a doubt the most aggressive and violent are the ones where alcohol is the biggest factor. Ask any bouncer, police officer, concert promoter or anyone else who deals with large groups of people or even individuals amped up on booze....ask them if they would rather deal with 10 stoners as opposed to one drunk. There is not even an argument. Alcohol makes some people crazy, stupid, mean and aggressive. Weed makes most people passive, unaggressive and unmotivated. Not exactly a good thing but a much less dangerous attitude for society at large. If the choice for our society in what is worse alcohol or weed, I think the answer is clearly alcohol.

The other thing about the anti-weed people is that they always say that marijuana is a "gateway" drug. WTF does that mean? My first "gateway" drug was sugar. Getting amped on Frosted Flakes before cartoons on Saturday. Then it was tobacco. And then it was alcohol. And the thing that always killed me about weed was that everyone said how bad weed was. But when you tried it, you were like....this is no big deal. In fact this is pretty damn fun. I am not freaking out. I am not jumping off buildings. I am laughing and have the munchies. Did smoking pot make me want to shoot heroin? Not anymore than smoking tobacco did, which is not at all. If someone decides to do heroin, meth, coke etc, it has been a long, long path and probably not started by toking on a joint.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that we need to get the Feds to move marijuana from a Class I to a Class III. Allow States to make individual laws about the possession and sale of marijuana. Allow States to garner tax revenue from the sales and cultivation. Treat drug addiction as a social/health issue and not a criminal issue. Stop filling our prisons with non violent drug offenders. Start looking at what imprisonment, eradication and enforcement costs are and look at what progress has been made. We are wasting our money and enriching drug lords by a short sighted and outdated policy. It is time for a sea change in how we view marijuana and all drugs, in my opinion. I hope the tide of legalization continues and our government can stop wasting money and resources on a battle we will never win.

Legalize It

[b119a]

Many patients out there may have a physical or mental problem that might be treated with weed, but doctors do not like to go on record as prescribing something that will make you feel good when they tell you modern antipsychotics do a better job.

The potency or whatever profile of the weed for such anti-anxiety treatment to be determined makes it nebulous in finding whether 'Xanax Weed' 'Valium Weed' or 'Ativan Weed' might be the best or correct choice for the patient and his dollars.

[bombermouse]

Just a quick point here, consider that making marijuana illegal has in no way made it unavailable but has resulted in the USA having the highest percentage of incarcerated citizens in the world.

[theequestrian]

I'm all for it.
One thing I will point out in the 'less harmful than alcohol' argument is this:
You Never, Ever, Ever hear, see or read of cases where someone comes home from work, cracks open a 6 pack of joints and then murders his friends or family.

[brk549]

This day and time most of these clowns don't run for public office for your or my benefit.They run for their on.I've said in another thread they do what they do because they want a bigger pile of money to roll around in so more sticks to them when they get out.The weed smokers will regret legalizing not to long from now after the feds and states start taxing at four or five hundred percent or probably more.If I understand what oxymoron is medicinal marijuana is.I don't believe smoke in the lungs of any kind can be good for anyone,soothing and gratifying yes but a lot of people smoke cigarettes for that reason.They'll never do away with cigarettes because of the pile of money they bring in and now their pushing weed to make the pile even bigger when one's just as bad as the other.Would you rather have a guy driving an 80,000 pound bullet down the interstate 70 to 80 miles an hour smoking a cig or weed.The guy with the cig is harming himself,the guy with the weed could wipe out a whole family.They are not concerned about us or alleviating anyone's pain.Growing that money pile is what their after.

[MaxJoker]

Phew !.

For a second I thought you meant this skid mark



Seen above either giving a wanky gangster sign, or admitting how many election manifesto pledges he broke in the first half hour of somehow scraping into office .

As for the drug itself , hmmmm I've never partaken personally in a personal type sense.

Isn't it supposed to dull inhibitions and encourage someone to make decisions that are in no way sensible

If so , somebody please shut my beloved in a smoky filled room full of it for an hour, then let me escort her unsteadily to a justice of the peace so we get non- prenuptial signed agreement-ed married



Gorgeous girl seen above, clearly overjoyed at the prospect of being the sixty ninth MrsJoker