Will they legalize marijuana?

you make alot of good points but i gotta say...if they really tried to criminalize tobacco/alcohol you dont think that ALOT more controversy would arise than this weed debate? i read somewhere that you are a policeman and while i respect what you do, how many of your fellow officers go out for a drink after their shift or a bad night on the job? how many also smoke cigs habitually because their job causes so much stress? i do not think that its fair to compare the legalization of weed to the criminalization of alcohol/tobacco. we live in America, once something is legal, the public will never let it become illegal.

im sure someone has said it already, there have been no deaths due to smoking to much weed, do you ever hear of a sexual assault case that involved weed?

http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/24/53/

where i go to school, if you are under 21 you will be cited an MIP (minor in possesion) if you are just HOLDING a bottle of alcohol-$300. if that can/bottle is open then you get charged with an open container and taken to jail. if you are a minor the same will happen if you appear to be drunk in public, MIP, however when that cop stops you if you say that you are stoned rather than drunk, then there is no law that requires that officer to cite you...as long as you do not have any weed on you.


just my .02

 

This thread has pretty much been beat to death on this subject, I will occasionally smoke a joint & just as often will have an occasional beer or 2, but my,yours, theirs purported drug usage, whether real or imagined isn't the issue I think, does Marijuana (cannibis sativa) have medical value ? Absolutely it does, whether its for Glaucoma, or cronic pain (no pun intended) I can speak from first hand experience from taking care of my Dad (who was going thru the hell that is terminal cancer & cancer treatment) He unfortunantly died despite the surgery to remove the cancer & subsequent Chemo-therapy & radiation therapy which as anyone who has gone thru it can tell you that Chemo & radiation literally KILLS everything, white blood cells, red blood cells, wipes out your immune system etc; One of the biggest problems a cancer patient has to endure thru the process is a lack of an appetite from all the Bullshit your body is being put thru, to help alleviate this , his doctors prescribed THC in a pill form. THC of course is the active ingrediant that has provided medical relief for thousands that require it , so it doesn't really matter what side of the fence your on when you see a loved one suffering from a insideous disease (it was terminal in my Dad's case) like cancer, it seems insane to me that access to a legitimate "drug" would be hindered by a somewhat antiquidated mind set of "Can't let them have it, its illegal" . So is Demerol, Chlorohydrate, morphine, etc; , maybe illegal isn't the correct term, CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE is a better definition. I'm not defending anyones choice to either use or not use a "controlled substance". But if the masses want to keep it illegal , I say, don't stop there, do the same with alchohol (which has been proven not to have any real medical value, just like heroin ) & might as well get rid of cigs too (as I'm a smoker myself) & society might as well benefit from the taxation & monitoring of "pot". Hell, even Cocaine has medical value & like it or not, booze has none,neither does tobacco & as far as someone mentioned about the "COP" mentality, well I come from a family of law enforcement on both sides of my family, my uncle was head jailer at Tacoma eek:) State prison in Washington State, my grandfather was retired Chief of police in Dighton ,Kansas & 3 couisins, one local Sheriffs Deputy, one Federal Marshall,& the other one is DEA . I know people that should've never taken a hit & some that should've never taken a drink, I don't care what your choice of poison is, as long as YOU are DOING IT & ITS NOT DOING YOU !! (meaning as long as its not interferring with normal day to day life) & your not behind the wheel, operating machinery or doing anything else that requires you to be focused & sober then I don't really see a problem..... But we all have an opinion & thanks for letting me share mine.....have a good day guys......


P.S. The only other remark I have is for a few here that seem to think that California is the only state contemplating it & the usual stereotype BS " Uhh, they'll be too stoned to vote that day" & etc; I know plenty of successful, law abidding (aside from a little smoke) people that smoke their weed af home, after work and so on, I know equally as well pothead "burn outs" that will smoke from the time they get up till they crash out , just the same I know a few alcoholics that live life the same way..... An irresponsible person is an irresponsible person regardless if they're "too baked" or "too drunk" to know or care whats going on around them

 

First off, let me introduce myself. I am Melissa, Nick's girlfriend (mytoytaco). I was reading this thread with him and seems like there is a lot of misinformed info so I wanted to jump in and give my professional opinion I have studied illegal drug use at the graduate level, btw.
I’m still uncertain my stance on the legalization of marijuana so maybe I shouldn’t be posting…
but what I do have is more accurate information than the majority of you.

First of all marijuana comes from a plant (just like cocaine, and the opium it takes to make heroin) so to say marijuana is “natural,” open your eyes most drugs are “natural.”

Secondly, pot was made illegal in the state of California in 1937 due to the illegal Mexicans coming over the border; the government thought that if pot was illegal the Mexicans would go back. Marijuana was made illegal in the entire United States by the end of the 1930’s (this had nothing to do with Nixon)!

Third, there is a difference between hemp and pot. Pot is a substance used to get “high.” Hemp is a very cheap textile with multiple purposes. Although cotton has the same amount of uses, cotton is more expensive to utilize than hemp would be. Hemp can also be grown in any agricultural area, cotton is pickier and can only be grown in particular conditions.

Fourth, as someone mentioned comparing marijuana to alcohol and cigarette is like comparing apples to oranges; although cigarettes can be more closely linked. Alcohol is what’s known as a depressant, cigarettes a stimulant, and marijuana a hallucinogen. That’s right folks marijuana is classified as a hallucinogen. If you smoke enough of it you will hallucinate. There is actually a case study where a woman drank 6 ounces of liquid thc, hallucinated for hours, overdosed, and died. The hallucination effects are the same reason a person gets paranoid when they smoke.

Fifth, smoking 1 gram of marijuana has as many cancer causing carcinogens as 14 cigarettes! Marijuana is linked to emphysema and lung cancer. Although because it is illegal nothing can be accurately proven because it’s illegal to study! And btw most lung cancer victims smoked marijuana habitually in their younger years.

Sixth, not only is comparing marijuana to other drugs like comparing apples to oranges, comparing one user to the next is like comparing apples to oranges. Some users will slow down and become lethargic and others will be hyperactive, to say that a stoner will just want to sit on the couch, eat, and watch t.v. and not drive a vehicle is inaccurate. Also it is scientifically proven a person under the influence has slower reflexes behind the wheel. The same as if someone doesn’t get enough sleep.

Seventh, as far as a decrease in crime, this is accurate because everyone who is smoking pot will no longer be convicted of smoking pot. This doesn’t affect murder, rape, burglary, etc.

Eighth, children get a hold of alcohol more easily than they do anything else and nine times out of ten they get it from their parents. Children who grow up with parents that smoke are more likely to smoke themselves.

Ninth, people who habitually smoke pot for an extended period of time not only affect their own health but can affect their children’s as well. Marijuana rots your brain in the same way a drug like ecstasy does, it only takes longer. People become slower and function at a lesser cognitive rate than those who don’t smoke weed. Guess what men your sperm will be affected and your kids will have the same cognitive issues you do, oh and women the same with your eggs.

Tenth, you can physically become addicted to pot. With any physical addiction your brain chemically and physically changes, proving addiction. The same thing happens with pot. Not only that, but there is a “detox” from weed as well. You get cranky and irritable and most people become depressed until your brain can repair itself.

Again I am torn on the illegal vs legal topic but please if you’re going to argue, be informed. *There is a book called “Uppers, Downers, and All Arounders” that was written by the staff at the Haight Ashbury drug treatment center in San Francisco (one of the most famous rehabs in the world) that has all the pictures of the brain and how it is affected by pot. But I’m sure with a little googling you can figure it out.

 

Missa84, nice of you to join in, but that's way too much shit to read, can you provide Cliffs note version please?

 

^^^ hah

also you drive a jeep so why would i listen you?

 

Look at you trying to be all faithful to tacomas...aren't you selling yours?

At least she drives a jeep and not a prius or some other pansy ass car!

 

I am going to vote to legalize it. But it's not for the benefit for the potsmokers. It's to take some of the power away from criminal gangs. And if it is legalized then some of our nations border problems will go away too.

 

I wonder what ernielanderos does in his spare time? I don't give a shit! LOL!

 

I agree. She tries to sell herself as an "expert" and provides a bunch of "facts" but doesn't back up her statements with references. What the heck are they teaching in grad school these days!!

 

I've smoked the ganja my whole life. I have a thriving family(High school boys who are bring home A's & B's one is heading for College on a Baseball scholarship!), I'm a professional at my job, get paid well enough to own a house on the Central CA coast. I was raised around it and my parents educated me about it, it's effect and the effects of other more harmful drugs (EDUCATE your Kids people!). Legal or Illegal, it is not going to ever go away, if you want it you can get it. If you don't use it thats great, but get over yourself and your criticism. This is or was a free country, why do so many people worry about what others are doing to themselves? Life is full of choices, it's your life make the choices you want to make, so my choice is to vote yes on legalizing a plant that was put on earth long before any of us were around.

 

That's all I need to know to completely ignore everything you posted, forget the cliffs notes version.

Graduate level, Phd or any other level of education does not equal real world experience.

 

I'll betcha she's got more real world experience than most of the people posting here. Just sayin. Not only does she have a degree, but she's worked as a rehab counselor for many years.

 

Working with addicts, so there's a nice unbiased opinion

 

I started to read this whole thread, but then I got high...

 

I just had a nacho cheese chalupa..

I now work full time at Taco Bell... Yesterday I had the largest amount of stoners come through my drive thru than since I started working here. I guess they all decided it was safer to come in stoned on 4/21 than 4/20

 

I hope this crap never gets legalized... Next you know, every drug will get legalized and this country will go to the shitter. America will never be the same or as great if this junk gets legalized.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93jQI_6G5Cw&feature=related

 

They're only legalizing what some people are doing anyway. The people who don't use it aren't going to turn into zombies. It can also be taxed if its sold by a commercial entity so this helps generate badly needed revenue for California.

 

i hope it DOES get legalized, then i can stop killing my liver with all this booze!i

 

X2 Tiller




With all due respect Melissa, literally everything you've learned, at the "professional" level you proclaim (you've got an education, & I applaud that) whether from class studies or lectures, were attained from the REAL LIFE experiences from Old 60's & 70's drug users like myself & from people even further back in our countries drug culture era. You are right about the classification of Marijuana being a hallucinogenic , but Marijuana is a hemp plant regardless if it gets you high or not, example: The male hemp plant doesn't produce the flowering tops (buds) that are the source of concentrations of THC (tetra-hydra-cannabanal) they produce THC's counterpart CBN which is more prone to make you headachy & very harsh to smoke, the female plants as you are probably aware produces the THC rich flowering "tops" that are sought after for smoking, anyway you slice it its still a hemp plant whether its male or female, back in the 30's & 40's they grew thousands of acres of Hemp for rope in the state of Kansas in particular, for the Government . & I would think that at this point in your education & knowledge you wouldn't "be on the fence" as to whether or not it should be legal & you should've formed an opinion & conclusion as to your official stand , but I'll stand by what I said earlier , if the public at large is opposed to legalization (medical or otherwise) then don't stop there, throw alchohol & tobacco in the mix as well because right or wrong it doesn't matter because those 2 (alchohol & tobacco) are by far more addicting & detrimental than Marijuana ( & yes I drink & smoke ) & for some of you out there, its pretty hard to make a case for the evils of Pot when you sit there with an alchoholic drink in your hand or a cigarette in your mouth , no one likes or listens to a hypocrite. I'm not going to bandwagon for either side, just disclose ALL the facts on ALL the poisons we put into our bodies & on their own merit, let the public decide by the facts & not stereotyped psycho-babble as to where these centuries old "evil" substances belong in our society......