Making Marijuana Legal

[babylin]

Sara AB is right about government propaganda and hypocrisy!! After the Volstead Act (prohibition) was repealed the zealots found another cause and it was racist---aimed at the blacks. Then there was REEFER MADNESS, a sorry piece of gov't crap!

On the PBS special aired recently another more sinister aspect was revealed: big business. Humbolt County is renowned for their product like Nappa Valley is for wine. Yet nothing in Prop 19 would prevent Con Agra, Phillip Morris, or a Cali Cartel from moving in and setting up huge growing operations that would drive tens of thousands out of jobs.

If you grow your own for your own use, where is the capitalist agenda: PROFIT? Medicinal pot could significantly hurt BIG PHARMA.

After some 40 years I now enjoy COPD, but a pot brownie can be heavenly.

Yes, as stated, EDUCATION is the answer, not a draconian police state wasting tax dollars.

HAPPINESS IS WEARING COTTON DIAPERS

[sarah_ab]

i have a neurological movement disorder that is so nicely accompanied by OCD and Anxiety, which at times can be become quite inhibiting. I qualify for social security disability. I could sit at home all day living off other people's tax dollars.... which people complain so much about.

Or about once ever 10 days or so I can smoke a joint.

then i work 40 + hours a week, i excel at my job. I have a college degree and am in graduate school. I have a well paying highly skilled job. on the government scale of how they rate jobs, mine is an 8/10.

Without smoking a joint, i would be living off of your hard earned money.

[KittenAB]

Legal or not, people will still be stupid with it. Honestly I say let them, just instead of throwing people who drive drunk or stoned in jail costing us a fortune, shoot them with a 5 dollar bullet instead.

The only benefit of making it legal would be to the smokers, the cost will still be the same, only instead of criminal prosecution (remember they make money off the criminals sometimes) they would have to spend it on making sure you pay the taxes on it ... which is hard since you can grow that stuff almost anywhere. Tax evasion is already too common as it is.

... and sorry Little Faerie, but most people are stupid and abuse anything they get. I see hundreds of people on weekdays getting out of bars at 2 am and driving as it is, thousands on weekends ... and I'm only watching from my window when I can't sleep. These people aren't just dangerous on the road either, they are belligerent and unruly. There are a few who are actually just having a good time, but they aren't the ones getting into their vehicles after drinking a gallon of alcohol. Seriously, drug abuse is the biggest problem in the US, and that's not counting the illegal ones.

[Crimson_Wolf]

I say legalize pot. The reasons are as follows, an increase in tax revenue for the states, pot would be regulated so there won't be any laced pot going around, people that are on chemo can smoke to treat their nausea and can be able to eat. Also the most important thing is that it'll save money on the bull shit drug war that consumes billions of dollars of tax payer money. Also it'll ease overcrowding of jails filled with people facing time in jail for petty pot possession. Also when has there been a case where someone was killed by someone smoking pot.

[KittenAB]

I say legalize pot. The reasons are as follows, an increase in tax revenue for the states, pot would be regulated so there won't be any laced pot going around, people that are on chemo can smoke to treat their nausea and can be able to eat. Also the most important thing is that it'll save money on the bull shit drug war that consumes billions of dollars of tax payer money. Also it'll ease overcrowding of jails filled with people facing time in jail for petty pot possession. Also when has there been a case where someone was killed by someone smoking pot.

I think you may want to reword that line .... there are many people who have driven stoned and killed someone. Not as many as alcohol but then, alcohol is legal. For many other types of killings, I doubt that's really mentioned just because it's a minor detail, but I do know a lot of gang killings were done by people high. No, I'm not trying to ruin your argument's side, but the facts from both sides are just too distorted, the only thing that matters in this is pretty much opinion because of this.

[Guest lilme]

yes, you can grow your own pot easily enough. some people argue this would make taxing it if it were legal, difficult. I personally don't think it would.

You can brew your own beer too, and some people do. But mostly we run to the local grocery store and buy a 12 pack. I think you'd see the same thing if pot were legal. Some people would grow a plant or two, but mostly we'd go to the local shop and buy ours. People are on average, lazy and/or impatient when it comes to stuff like that... and don't want to wait for nature to take it's course.

I just don't think people growing it themselves would be a really big problem. If they want to get high today, they'll have to shuffle down to the dime joint (heh).

~lilme

[tommee]

Of course it's easy to grow your own pot, why do you think it's called weed?

[anondl]

Of course it's easy to grow your own pot, why do you think it's called weed?

Of course, almost anybody can grow weed, but growing something that is tasty and potent, that's a different matter.

Anondl

[anned]

I have a lot of pain from my fibromyalgia and neurosarcoidosis and use it medically.

I know a large number of people that use it for medical reasons and not one of them has ever been arrested for driving under the influence.

But i know a lot of people who have DUIs from alcohol.

Most people that smoke pot just use enough to get a buzz not get totally plastered.

Most people that use pot medically don't even have to smoke it to the point of getting a buzz just enough to cut the pain level.

Me i don't smoke it i use a vaporizer to take mine because you get the THC with out the burning smoke products.

There are also brownies, home made marijuana candy. and a new one i just found out about marijuana peanut butter.

[BBB]

looks like california isn't going to pass prop 19.

[Jackiewope]

looks like california isn't going to pass prop 19.

I kind of hope they don't. If pot's going to be legalized it needs to be throughout the country, not just one state. Otherwise we'll be met with all sorts of legal backlash and befuddlement.

[DLDan]

Contrary to what a lot of people think, in places where pot has been decriminalized or its use is tolerated, the netherlands for instance, apart from an initial spike usage rates pretty much stay level. Look at amsterdam and the whole country, the adult usage rate of marijuana is lower than in neighbouring France where its illegal. The benefits of legalisation far outweigh the possible negatives

[KittenAB]

Contrary to what a lot of people think, in places where pot has been decriminalized or its use is tolerated, the netherlands for instance, apart from an initial spike usage rates pretty much stay level. Look at amsterdam and the whole country, the adult usage rate of marijuana is lower than in neighbouring France where its illegal. The benefits of legalisation far outweigh the possible negatives

I've said it a million times when I was on a political board, I'll say it a million more, you can NOT compare one country to another. "The US is from Mars and Canada is from Venus" is a saying I like.

It's not the over use that would be the problem, it's the over use then doing dangerous things that would be, just like with drinking and driving, or prescription drugs and cranes ... here in the US we are just too damned use to the government baby sitting us there's no turning back on these issues until people get use to thinking for themselves again. But meh, I would not mind a drastic population reduction here so have at it, just don't say us pessimists didn't warn you.

[DLDan]

I've said it a million times when I was on a political board, I'll say it a million more, you can NOT compare one country to another. "The US is from Mars and Canada is from Venus" is a saying I like.

It's not the over use that would be the problem, it's the over use then doing dangerous things that would be, just like with drinking and driving, or prescription drugs and cranes ... here in the US we are just too damned use to the government baby sitting us there's no turning back on these issues until people get use to thinking for themselves again. But meh, I would not mind a drastic population reduction here so have at it, just don't say us pessimists didn't warn you.

Well as the bulk of research indicates that legalization does not have a dramatic effect on who is actually smoking, it would follow that those who smoked before legalisation and did not kill themselves while high will probably continue to do just that- the only difference being the legal status

As for driving I can only speak for myself when i say that its one of the last things i want to do when high, i cant think of a time where i smoked anywhere i would possibly need to drive from while still feeling the effects. I think that the culture surrounding marijuana use is far less social and public than alcohol and that a large portion of use is in private residences

[sarah_ab]

if you can't compare one country to another why do people insist on pointing to canada when discussing universal health care? if thats teh case then we also shouldn't compare one state to another when discussing state law, because washington state for example is another country compared to texas....

[KittenAB]

Well as the bulk of research indicates that legalization does not have a dramatic effect on who is actually smoking, it would follow that those who smoked before legalisation and did not kill themselves while high will probably continue to do just that- the only difference being the legal status

As for driving I can only speak for myself when i say that its one of the last things i want to do when high, i cant think of a time where i smoked anywhere i would possibly need to drive from while still feeling the effects. I think that the culture surrounding marijuana use is far less social and public than alcohol and that a large portion of use is in private residences

however, I'm also against alcohol consumption, but not for making it illegal either, again just because I say we start letting these people kill themselves instead of trying to "help" them. The few who do it in moderation are fine, it's the majority that doesn't, and the sooner they die the sooner the rest of us are safe anyway. But meh, this is why I gave up voting on such things, until the population level is drastically reduced there really is no point in worrying about lives anyway, as "dark" as people may think that sounds, it's logical, no one person can worry about 7 to 8 billion of their own kind unless you are an ant, even they don't worry about every single one of their kind.

To Sarah, dur .... sorry but I don't compare the way people are in one state to another when making decisions myself, just when determining where I would like to live, even then I typically take it city by city to. As for "universal health care" ... different topic and I don't really care for the way it is planned in the US anyway. I'm for each state making it's own laws, this federal crap is just too much now.

[Leilin]

I don't always agree with Redneck but this is a point of view where I think he is 100 percent correct. A VAST portion of Cali's current funds issues are drawn from a bloated and topheavy prison system that is heavily populated by nonviolent offenders. It's not QUITE as bad as other states, but it's fair to say that the prison system of each state in the union, as it currently exists is a drain on that respective state and the decriminalization of Marijuana would be a big step towards fixing that issue, considering its relative impact to already decriminalized substances.

I will postface this by saying that I don't smoke. Nor do I have a desire to at all. I do not, however, see the purpose in criminalization of an act which, by itself, has no inherent harm to others other than that which is mostly caused by its criminal status. It would be better off taxed, regulated, and something which we could openly research, especially considering its possible positive impact on those people who experience true chronic pain.

[lukeout]

Not to mention you can even make Paper, Clothing and Rope all out of hemp... and hemp's carbon footprint to grow is equal to the benefit it has on nature so it would cause 0 pollution and would allow us to stop harvesting Tree's for paper and other goods, allowing tree's to prosper once again increasing the oxygen level's and fixing global warming... wow! weed fixes everything!

[timmyc]

controlled substance my ass, I can go down to the corner right now and buy some if I wanted. It is completely uncontrolled and that is part of the problem. If was actually controlled the drug cartels would be shut down, or become legitimate businessmen. The street gangs would loose their source of underground income. I doubt the number of users would increase, people generally smoke or they don't. It can be easily obtained, including by young people. You need ID to by booze, and cigarettes anyone with cash can buy pot. Actually I think over time the numbers would decrease if the product was taxed and it would loose a lot of mystique that people are getting away with something. How much do we spend to criminalize it, that clearly isn't working? Take that money combined with the new found tax revenue and you have a huge swing in public money. Prohibition in the 20's didn't work, neither has the so called war on drugs.

I haven't smoked in over 20 years, it is not a big deal to me. I am all for legalizing, but that doesn't mean I am going to run out and buy pot just because I can.

[Yvhuce]

Just because a percentage of people do something, that doesn't mean that it should be legal or acceptable... A lot of people drive drunk, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't stop arresting people for doing so... The real problem is that the justice system has gotten too soft... Stuff like life sentences, multiple life sentences, and sentences for hundreds of years and whatnot are a joke. They just mean that the people're goinna have to pay to keep criminals alive. They need to be taking a lot of the people who're in prison and shooting them in the head... Dead people can't reoffend, and don't need to be housed, fed, or attempted to be rehabilitated...

[ArtemisEnterri]

Just because a percentage of people do something, that doesn't mean that it should be legal or acceptable... A lot of people drive drunk, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't stop arresting people for doing so... The real problem is that the justice system has gotten too soft... Stuff like life sentences, multiple life sentences, and sentences for hundreds of years and whatnot are a joke. They just mean that the people're goinna have to pay to keep criminals alive. They need to be taking a lot of the people who're in prison and shooting them in the head... Dead people can't reoffend, and don't need to be housed, fed, or attempted to be rehabilitated...

Don't forget the fact that many prisons are more like "club med" for the prisoners... Instead of simple bread and water, they get full meals. Instead of a hard slab to sleep on, they get soft beds. Instead of being put to hard-labor, they get internet access, cable/satellite TV, exercise equipment, libraries, etc. And ALL on the public's money!

Whatever happened to the concept of jail being a PUNISHMENT?!?!?!?! If jails/prisons were undesirable places to be in, there would be fewer people committing crimes in order to be sent in... For some (particularly inner-city teens) they get MORE by being in jail than they would one their own on the streets.

[Leilin]

Just because a percentage of people do something, that doesn't mean that it should be legal or acceptable... A lot of people drive drunk, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't stop arresting people for doing so... The real problem is that the justice system has gotten too soft... Stuff like life sentences, multiple life sentences, and sentences for hundreds of years and whatnot are a joke. They just mean that the people're goinna have to pay to keep criminals alive. They need to be taking a lot of the people who're in prison and shooting them in the head... Dead people can't reoffend, and don't need to be housed, fed, or attempted to be rehabilitated...

However, the fact that something does no definable harm to other people other than that which is directly caused by its illegality does mean that it should not be illegal.

As to shooting people in prison in the head, well, there are people who are in for a lifetime or more for nonviolent crimes. Do you suggest giving people the death penalty for nonviolent crimes?

[KittenAB]

However, the fact that something does no definable harm to other people other than that which is directly caused by its illegality does mean that it should not be illegal.

Like tobacco? But everyone seems to want to make that illegal to. So have at it, make tobacco illegal but then keep pot illegal as well.

[Leilin]

Like tobacco? But everyone seems to want to make that illegal to. So have at it, make tobacco illegal but then keep pot illegal as well.

While I know some people want to make Tobacco illegal, I seriously doubt that it's a majority.

Most people who I know, and granted this is limited scope, are like me. As long as you're not blowing smoke in my face, do as you will. It's not my job to tell other people they can't do something that doesn't harm others..

However, adults who force children to sit and inhale that filth (especially in a "hotbox" fashion) deserve to be castrated without painkillers. That is different, of course, though, because they ARE harming others.

[KittenAB]

While I know some people want to make Tobacco illegal, I seriously doubt that it's a majority.

Most people who I know, and granted this is limited scope, are like me. As long as you're not blowing smoke in my face, do as you will. It's not my job to tell other people they can't do something that doesn't harm others..

However, adults who force children to sit and inhale that filth (especially in a "hotbox" fashion) deserve to be castrated without painkillers. That is different, of course, though, because they ARE harming others.

If it wasn't the majority then the smoking bans wouldn't keep getting more strict. Did you know it's illegal to smoke in public parks in most places now? It's illegal to smoke while walking down the street in some places. So, if tobacco smoke is so bad for people who don't smoke, then so is pot smoke, can't have it both ways.