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in italy the cannabis

Erod said:
Well, it's driven the crime rate up in Denver and Seattle, which used to be great cities to visit. You should think twice about it.

Crime Rates Are Soaring in Seattle and Denver -- Is Marijuana to Blame? -- The Motley Fool
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Chomsky said:
Well, I guess that's one way of looking at being forced to move to a cheaper place! :lamo
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You'll enjoy going local, if you choose right. ;)
 
Chomsky said:
I'm good with that if it's enforced, along with public intoxication laws.

I'm happy after all these decades that pot is finally getting decriminalized. I'd also like to end the insane War on Drugs.

I just don't want to deal with dope smoke or stoned tokers, as I go about my public business. If so, then we're all good and I wish the kids well!
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There are anti-smoking laws in establishments and near doorways and such, I think this is typical. Marijuana is further restricted, it is not legal to use/consume marijuana openly or publicly.

Now that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and in a place like CO, where it is legal, it's likely to be a bit more frequent. But despite what people are claiming, Denver isn't consumed by some massive pot cloud because everyone is smoking outside. Do some people smoke outside? Yes. Has that always been the case? Yes. Is it more frequent now that it is legal? Slightly.

But go to NYC and walk around, you'll smell the refer there too. In lots of places where it's technically illegal you'll see it used openly. So even pot being illegal does not stop open use. As such, it's not absolute that you won't smell it or encounter it here in CO, but it's not so prevalent that it's absolutely everywhere. I don't know, I lived here before and after legalization and honestly, I haven't noticed a huge difference in any way other than now when people want to buy weed, instead of going to a drug dealer they go to a store.
 
joG said:
You'll enjoy going local, if you choose right. ;)
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You know, I think I might agree with that - but preferred if I move under my own terms.

The problem is I'm too urban, and nice urban areas *anywhere* seem to cost ... :(
 
Chomsky said:
You know, I think I might agree with that - but preferred if I move under my own terms.

The problem is I'm too urban, and nice urban areas *anywhere* seem to cost ... :(
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Urban? I would have thought urbane more fitting. ;)

PS:How large does urban need to be urban?
 
joG said:
Urban? I would have thought urbane more fitting. ;)

PS:How large does urban need to be urban?
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I like really big cities, world class (or close) and multi-cultural.

Then I live just outside, in a quiet suburb with close easy public transport access.

This is my preferred living arrangement, and pretty much what I've got now and consider it the best of all worlds. The only thing missing would be a really big chunk of land, but that comes with a very steep price in the nicer suburbs of very large cities, supply & demand being what it is.

I've come to believe my being raised in a very large diverse city has greatly influenced my life (and now my kids, too) in a very positive & enriching manner, but I don't want to deal with the 24/7 constant bombardment of cacophony and a mass of humanity anymore, as much as I love it when in the mood.

It may sound snobbish, but I like to have a cosmopolitan experience from time to time, and make no apologies for it. A 5 minute walk and 18 minute train-ride, gets me there.
 
Chomsky said:
I like really big cities, world class (or close) and multi-cultural.

Then I live just outside, in a quiet suburb with close easy public transport access.

This is my preferred living arrangement, and pretty much what I've got now and consider it the best of all worlds. The only thing missing would be a really big chunk of land, but that comes with a very steep price in the nicer suburbs of very large cities, supply & demand being what it is.

I've come to believe my being raised in a very large diverse city has greatly influenced my life (and now my kids, too) in a very positive & enriching manner, but I don't want to deal with the 24/7 constant bombardment of cacophony and a mass of humanity anymore, as much as I love it when in the mood.

It may sound snobbish, but I like to have a cosmopolitan experience from time to time, and make no apologies for it. A 5 minute walk and 18 minute train-ride, gets me there.
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Athens, Barcelona or Lisbon might fit including the land ;)
 
joG said:
Athens, Barcelona or Lisbon might fit including the land ;)
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Interesting you say that!

I've though about Lisbon from time-to-time, and the cost of Portuguese living is reasonable and I like Portuguese food! Crazy as it sounds, back a while ago there was a substantial contingent of retirees from my city expating to Portugal for those very reasons, and one of the local newspapers did a Sunday story on it. Apparently the USD goes pretty far there.

And Barcelona (and it's seafood) is on my bucket list!

As good as they sound though, I'm not sure if Lisbon or Barcelona would have the true wide-ranging ethnic diversity of a world immigrant American destination city like Chicago or New York? Particularly Lisbon?

I do very much like living in America though, (for now).
 
Chomsky said:
Interesting you say that!

I've though about Lisbon from time-to-time, and the cost of Portuguese living is reasonable and I like Portuguese food! Crazy as it sounds, back a while ago there was a substantial contingent of retirees from my city expating to Portugal for those very reasons, and one of the local newspapers did a Sunday story on it. Apparently the USD goes pretty far there.

And Barcelona (and it's seafood) is on my bucket list!

As good as they sound though, I'm not sure if Lisbon or Barcelona would have the true wide-ranging ethnic diversity of a world immigrant American destination city like Chicago or New York? Particularly Lisbon?

I do very much like living in America though, (for now).
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Probably not the diversity of NY, LA or Chicago, but Barcelona certainly has diversity and is very lively.
 
joG said:
Probably not the diversity of NY, LA or Chicago, but Barcelona certainly has diversity and is very lively.
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Barcelona is about the only city where I've never heard anyone saying *anything* besides, "I love it there".

Don't know what is is about that place.
 
Chomsky said:
Barcelona is about the only city where I've never heard anyone saying *anything* besides, "I love it there".

Don't know what is is about that place.
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Try it in late September or better late March, I guess.
 
Erod said:
Well, it's driven the crime rate up in Denver and Seattle, which used to be great cities to visit. You should think twice about it.

Crime Rates Are Soaring in Seattle and Denver -- Is Marijuana to Blame? -- The Motley Fool
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'


I hope you posted the above without having read the blog post, because here's something very important about the blog post you cited. It's a quote, no less:




There are so many variables that the aforementioned data doesn't account for that it's probably best to treat this correlation as nothing more than an interesting coincidence at the moment. Things like weather patterns, the economy, the strength of a law enforcement agency, citizens' attitude toward crime, population density and stability, crime reporting activity of citizens, and cultural factors are just some factors that could influence crime rates within a city. In fact, Denver County's crime rate was moving higher on a regular basis (with the exception of 2012) before recreational marijuana was legalized. For all we know we could merely be seeing a continuation of that pattern in Denver County without any effect from marijuana's legalization. For the time being I don't think it would be wise to imply that marijuana is increasing crime rates in Seattle or Denver.







If you're going to scare-monger, I suggest you do not cite sources that say you are wrong. Maybe that's just me.
 
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Chomsky said:
Barcelona is about the only city where I've never heard anyone saying *anything* besides, "I love it there".

Don't know what is is about that place.
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Great city.
 
Aramone said:
in Italy in September we are discussed in parliament, whether to legalize cannabis.
What do you think, Italy is right to engage these issues, do you think the Italian parliament will still be able to engage this discussion, as you do in America?
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I hope they do legalize drugs over there, it should stop those annoying people who always come up to me asking if I am against drugs and then they ask for money to support them!
 
Chomsky said:
Haha!

You've just proved my point!

*Everyone* always loves Barcelona!

It's unnerving! :mrgreen:
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The wife and I met in the second week of college. She stayed on for a Master's to start, and the second part was a semester abroad. She went to Barcelona.

I went to Hell.

"Hell" being the first year of law school, taken much more seriously than I should have (I read, took notes on, brief, every single page of hundreds per night. 3.5-4.5 hour per night = insanity 3 months later. I suppose it paid off though. Got into whatever internship I wanted... ).



After I walked through hell and won (the first semester), I went to visit her in Barcelona, before accompanying her home. The bliss of relief, the meeting after months (for a 22 year old), the freedom......

..... never will taste so sweet a nectar.





Beautiful city. Nice people, excluding the Catalonian ***hole who decided that he didn't want to serve two persons (one white American/Russia/Jew, one white American/Jew) their drinks or calamari. But, the jamon. The market. The buildings, built with the blood of millions of peasants. The churches.... blood of Christians followed by blood of Muslims, bolstered with Aztec gold, oh... but at least some of it went to something beautiful. One can stand in the same place for hours at end and trace with his eyes those myriad designs in woodwork, spiraling up thirty nay fifty feet, and not reaching the ceiling; how many lives spent carving that one column?

Hell, I even learned to navigate by the sun in Cordoba given the maps with unlabled streets, but with their shapes accurate.




One night we went to an absinthe bar (at midnight) and left at 4 AM. Fortunately, we weren't mugged....stumbling down roads lined with walls built by the Roman Empire some 2,000+ years ago, lit with lamps that might as well be torches. Such scenes, burned into memory.
 
Erod said:
I've spent LOTS of time in both cities, particularly downtown. Now, you can't walk down the street in downtown Denver without wasted potheads roaming around all over the place, smoking openly.

It used to be very family friendly down there. Now, nobody wants to take their kids downtown.
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Wasted potheads don't steal things, that requires effort, which they do not do. Your own article even said causation is not correlation. Both those are major cities, and population growth, poverty, and many other factors affect crime rate.

I somehow doubt a pothead would steal a car to pay for weed, they thought about it for hours while watching spongebob, and realized it was too much work and went to work for walmart instead.
 
Mr Person said:
The wife and I met in the second week of college. She stayed on for a Master's to start, and the second part was a semester abroad. She went to Barcelona.

I went to Hell.

"Hell" being the first year of law school, taken much more seriously than I should have (I read, took notes on, brief, every single page of hundreds per night. 3.5-4.5 hour per night = insanity 3 months later. I suppose it paid off though. Got into whatever internship I wanted... ).



After I walked through hell and won (the first semester), I went to visit her in Barcelona, before accompanying her home. The bliss of relief, the meeting after months (for a 22 year old), the freedom......

..... never will taste so sweet a nectar.





Beautiful city. Nice people, excluding the Catalonian ***hole who decided that he didn't want to serve two persons (one white American/Russia/Jew, one white American/Jew) their drinks or calamari. But, the jamon. The market. The buildings, built with the blood of millions of peasants. The churches.... blood of Christians followed by blood of Muslims, bolstered with Aztec gold, oh... but at least some of it went to something beautiful. One can stand in the same place for hours at end and trace with his eyes those myriad designs in woodwork, spiraling up thirty nay fifty feet, and not reaching the ceiling; how many lives spent carving that one column?

Hell, I even learned to navigate by the sun in Cordoba given the maps with unlabled streets, but with their shapes accurate.




One night we went to an absinthe bar (at midnight) and left at 4 AM. Fortunately, we weren't mugged....stumbling down roads lined with walls built by the Roman Empire some 2,000+ years ago, lit with lamps that might as well be torches. Such scenes, burned into memory.
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That's a great story Mr. Person, and you write it well.

Thank you, for sharing this.

I have a Barcelona story of sorts, too:

I met & dated a Spaniard who was right out of med school (The Sorbonne!), while she was vacationing in the States. And yes, her family were historically Barcelonan for many generations, and deeply involved in business there.

She only had a few weeks with me as I showed her around the city, before she had to go back to Europe to do her internship & residency, even though she wanted to eventually live and practice in the states with her expat sister. Apparently, for an overseas educated M.D. it's easier to get licensed firstly overseas and then sitting for the boards here, than to go through the more onerous extra education and steps required here before one can take the boards.

She went back, I stayed, and I soon after met the woman that would become my wife (ironically, another overseas visitor), and I never went to Barcelona or saw the doc-to-be again.

Oh, one fun wrinkle: She spoke native Spanish, and learned French from her Sorbonne experience. I speak native American English with some smatterings of hereditary Polish & Italian, but had two years of H.S. French and some limited experience speaking French when skiing & visiting relatives in Montreal & Quebec City.

So our *only way* of communicating was via (broken) French-as-a-second-language! It was a blast, and added to the fun! :mrgreen:
 
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