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Marijuana

How should Marijuana be dealt with?

  • Stricter federal laws must be made, and more money put to enforcing them

    Votes: 7 7.2%
  • Give individual states the right to decide how to go about it

    Votes: 32 33.0%
  • Legalize it through a federal law

    Votes: 42 43.3%
  • Give states the right to decide about it as long as they abide by certain Federal guidelines

    Votes: 16 16.5%

  • Total voters
    97
Anyone who isn't careful could.

Ah Wake, ANYONE who's less than careful very well could.

An old lady who falls asleep with a cigarette in her hand VERY WELL COULD.

Oh come now, you know THC can rob you of your senses, unlike nicotine.

Ergo, you are at a higher risk to do something unwise when, well, HIGH.

Even more so when DRUNK.
 
Re: Marijuna

Anyone who isn't careful could.

The difference is that the non-pothead can generally....

a. Put the fire out on their own
b. Be smart enough to call the fire department if they can't put it out (before it burns down a 7 story brick building)
c. both a & b
 
Oh come now, you know THC can rob you of your senses, unlike nicotine.

Ergo, you are at a higher risk to do something unwise when, well, HIGH.

Even more so when DRUNK.

I have never started a fire while high.
 
Re: Marijuna

The difference is that the non-pothead can generally....

a. Put the fire out on their own
b. Be smart enough to call the fire department if they can't put it out (before it burns down a 7 story brick building)
c. both a & b

What were the squatters going to put the fire out with?

I'll bet the reason they didn't call the fire dept. is because they didn't want to get arrested for being there in the first place.
 
Re: Marijuna

I voted legalize it through federal law.

I am not a user.

The costs to tax payers and the right to privacy is my reasoning.

That said ... any sector that feels the use of this drug impairs users past the half life time period should have a right to test and exclude those who test positive.

Occasional use of of light marijuana or ETOH in ones own home and not in public is a freedom of choice imho. That said I think anyone who partakes and is impaired while caring for minors is irresponsible and a negative role model.
 
Re: Marijuna

The difference is that the non-pothead can generally....

a. Put the fire out on their own
b. Be smart enough to call the fire department if they can't put it out (before it burns down a 7 story brick building)
c. both a & b

I started a cheeto fire in a crock pot lid in an empty apartment once when I was a kid- I was able to put it out all by myself despite being quite high at the time.

btw.. another reason to legalize it is so that there can be some modicum of control to keep pot out of the hands of kids who start cheeto fires. Black market does not hinder a 14 year old kid from buying pot in the slightest. it actually encourages it.
 
Re: Marijuna

Drew Brees is going to be pissed.

Not my problem.


What were the squatters going to put the fire out with? I'll bet the reason they didn't call the fire dept. is because they didn't want to get arrested for being there in the first place.

They reported to the police that they threw some soda and juice on it and tried to beat it out with their jackets. They also reported not being as concerned about the squatting issue as they were about the fact that they were both high at the time and already had previous drug arrests. They also claimed they thought the fire would just burn the clothes without catching the nearly century old wood floor or their bedding on fire. Oops.
 
No, I'm not an idiot.

Scientifically, how do you prove that?

Humor aside, there is the increased likelihood of doing something unwise when out of your sense, whether drunk or high. I suspect you can at least agree with me on that, right?
 
Re: Marijuna

I started a cheeto fire in a crock pot lid in an empty apartment once when I was a kid- I was able to put it out all by myself despite being quite high at the time.

btw.. another reason to legalize it is so that there can be some modicum of control to keep pot out of the hands of kids who start cheeto fires. Black market does not hinder a 14 year old kid from buying pot in the slightest. it actually encourages it.

This is true. Kids can get weed easier than alcohol.
 
Oh come now, you know THC can rob you of your senses, unlike nicotine.

Ergo, you are at a higher risk to do something unwise when, well, HIGH.

Even more so when DRUNK.

I respectfully disagree and ... no I do not smoke pot and consume less than 12 ounces of red wine per week.

However high serum levels of ETOH create as much or possibly greater high risk and violent behaviors imho.
 
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Re: Marijuna

They reported to the police that they threw some soda and juice on it and tried to beat it out with their jackets. They also reported not being as concerned about the squatting issue as they were about the fact that they were both high at the time and already had previous drug arrests. They also claimed they thought the fire would just burn the clothes without catching the nearly century old wood floor or their bedding on fire. Oops.

They were idiots then.

It's not illegal to be high. It's only illegal to possess marijuana.
 
Re: Marijuna

So death penalty without trial for alcohol and cheetos, right?
 
Scientifically, how do you prove that?

Humor aside, there is the increased likelihood of doing something unwise when out of your sense, whether drunk or high. I suspect you can at least agree with me on that, right?

When drunk, sure.

High, no. I can function just fine when high. Of course, I have smoked plenty and someone who hasn't may have difficulties. But it's nowhere near as disabling as alcohol.
 
I respectfully disagree and ... no I do not smoke pot and consume less than 12 ounces of red wine per week.

However serum levels of ETOH create as much or possibly greater high risk and violent behaviors imho.

Well, I respectfully disagree with your respectful disagreement. I find that being robbed of your senses, no matter how slight, does, in fact, put you at greater rsik of doing something unwise. To disagree with that common sense approach would be to assume that being high puts one's self at a heightened sense of perception, to not just be equal in the sense of being normally sober, but even more aware. Perhaps that is the case for a remote few, yet not all.
 
Re: Marijuna

Personal Anecdote: My parents grew up in southern Michigan during a period of time in which drugs were easily acquired and a small-time weed dealer could make a nice chunk of money with little effort. They tried pretty much everything short of heroin during their teen years. Both of them quit using everything except MJ when they moved to Texas in the early 80s, and they stopped even that when my mother realized she was pregnant with me.

After I was born, both of them stayed off all drugs (alcohol excluded) for several years. My father had a brief bout with pain killer addiction in the early 90s due to a series of very painful accidents and very poor treatment (no insurance, workers comp sucked then). My father handled his addiction and got back on the right path, but then there was an economic downturn in the construction industry in Texas and money became tight. Due to the stress, my mother began using multiple drugs.

I should mention before I go further: my mother has very obvious, though undiagnosed, mental issues. She is at least bi-polar but more likely schizophrenic. She has suffered the effects of her mental problems since she was a child and has never received any formal treatment. That said...

My mother's addiction spiraled. She lied, hid it, and manipulated people so masterfully that when my dad left because he could no longer handle her she still managed to win custody during the divorce. For the next four years I was tossed around emotionally and mentally as she went back and forth between various mental illness issues and the effects of the drugs she chose to use. She was offered rehab twice, she's been convicted of prostitution, possession, possession with intent, and domestic violence twice each. One more conviction for either crime and she'll receive Michigan's max sentence for that crime (three-strike law). She almost died 2 years ago due to complications from a necrotic bowel and the emergency surgery her body was too weak to handle.

Today, she's almost 50 but looks like she's in her late 70s. She's got dentures because all of her natural teeth have rotted and fallen out. Her hair is sparse and stringy and she's shrunk from 5'2" to 4'9". She has a heart problem, she lost 12 feet of intestine, and lord only knows what other health problems. She's on SSDI, receives food stamps, and uses money she makes from hooking herself to continue supplying herself with drugs. No approach from our family has worked to encourage her to change, seek help, or acquire counselling. Involuntary committment is next to impossible in this situation because I, as the next of kin, live in another state and have almost no contact with her.

All of that said: My mother would have accessed these drugs whether they were legal or not. If they were legal she might not have spiraled so quickly because logical, common sense regulations would have inhibited her ability to buy legally and the costs would have been prohibitive. She would still have been an addict, and without the drugs she probably would have behaved much worse due to the mental issues she suffers from.

I've seen her and her addict friends sink to the very bottom of a dark, dangerous pit. I lived with heroin addicts, crack addicts, and people who whored themselves out for another fix. I can tell you exactly what cooking heroin smells like. And even with all of that, I say drugs should be legalized (MJ especially).

Why? Because in areas where drug use has been decriminalized crimes, deaths, and illlness related to drug use has declined significantly. So did the occurrence of addiction. Money previously invested in seeking out and prosecuting users was reapplied to identifying trends amongst users and working to interrupt them. Providing preimpetive mental health counselling, interjecting prior to the addiction process, creating detox and addiction counselling programs that actually work...and it's been successful. That being the case, in that society it's entirely possible I might still have a mom, and not just some shell of a woman who happened to carry me in her womb for 9 months before subsequently destroying me mentally for 10 years of my life. Our current system saves nobody, and punishes too many. I have no desire to see that system continue. We're losing our loved ones everyday because of archaic, backwards, corrupted policies built on ignorance, fear, and control.
 
Re: Marijuna

Tessa, if we decirminalize THC because it's so costly to uphold the law, what else follows suit? Are all drugs then decriminalized? How about prostitution? After that, what else should be decriminalized? I do have sympathy for your story [seriously, I do], yet what happens when we decriminalize and decriminalize until we have to start thinking of new things to decriminalize?
 
Well, I respectfully disagree with your respectful disagreement. I find that being robbed of your senses, no matter how slight, does, in fact, put you at greater rsik of doing something unwise. To disagree with that common sense approach would be to assume that being high puts one's self at a heightened sense of perception, to not just be equal in the sense of being normally sober, but even more aware. Perhaps that is the case for a remote few, yet not all.

I agree ... slight lack of judgment when high on THC does put one at higher risk for forgetfulness and loosening inhibitions. However high levels of ETOH seem to be at the root of more child abuse, domestic violence, addiction, chronic disease, violence, death etc than THC.

They are completely different drugs.

The evidence based studies support this and anecdotal observations from years working as a NP in acute care also supports this.

However each individual is unique and THC might be more devastating for some individuals than ETOH. I do know a combination of tobacco and marijuana inhalation together is potentiated for damage and puts one at high risk for COPD.

Generally the issue is lack of moderation ... probably the person that has a drink a few times a week or smokes ganja a few times per month ... all in the privacy of their own home with responsible habits is not really not putting themselves in high risk situation.
 
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Re: Marijuna

^^^ So sorry you had to go through all that Tess, sounds awful. :(
 
Re: Marijuna

Tessa, if we decirminalize THC because it's so costly to uphold the law, what else follows suit? Are all drugs then decriminalized? How about prostitution? After that, what else should be decriminalized? I do have sympathy for your story [seriously, I do], yet what happens when we decriminalize and decriminalize until we have to start thinking of new things to decriminalize?

Research "countries that decriminalized drug use" and you'll find the answers to your questions.

As for prostitution and the slippery slope argument: Prostitution is legal and regulated in Nevada and it's one of the safest systems in place, for both the prostitute and the customer.
 
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