Weed

[Aaron LeClair]

Britain: Pot Use Drops Following Drug’s Reclassification - Illicit drug use hits record low after cops cease arresting minor pot violators

http://norml.com/index.cfm?Group_ID=7410

 

[Michael L.]

Note that according to this article the amount of marijuana seized by the police has "increased sharply" as well.

 

[Aaron LeClair]

Note that according to this article the amount of marijuana seized by the police has "increased sharply" as well.

Yeh, they going after the bigger dealers instead of pickin on the dude getting high off a nickle bag playin Nin Wii.

 

[Gil Bavel]

The war on drugs is the U.S. government's biggest conspiracy--it's been proven they brought in huge amounts of illicit drugs on Bush 41's oil boats, going right past customs, on into the mainland.
The war on drugs is the biggest lie until 9/11.

It doesn't surprise me that, like organized crime, they discovered there was even bigger money to be made gunrunning than drug smuggling. The war on terror makes much more money than the war on drugs.

"This is not your father's war".

 

[Aaron LeClair]

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[Brian Now]

Not that anyone asked, but my opinion is that it's a crime to criminalize marijuana. What an utterly ridiculous thing to make illegal and prosecute against when any and everyone can see that alcohol destroys more lives than pot. I feel silly even stating that fact since there's no one alive who doesn't realize it.

Would marijuana grow to be a major killer and homewrecker if it were legalized? I doubt it, but even if it did how do you choose which poison to be illegal and which not to be?

 

[Michael L.]

I feel silly even stating that fact since there's no one alive who doesn't realize it.

What an incredibly narrow minded statement.

 

[SnakeOil]

I feel silly even stating that fact since there's no one alive who doesn't realize it.

What an incredibly narrow minded statement.

Not narrow minded, paranoid. And I'll smoke to that.

 

[CapnG]

Would marijuana grow to be a major killer and homewrecker if it were legalized? I doubt it, but even if it did how do you choose which poison to be illegal and which not to be?

By determining which can be more easily regulated and taxed, duh. Micro-brew kits and home wine making courses have been available for years but you don't see everyone making their own booze, do you? Any idiot can grow a freakin' plant.

 

[auntiegrav]

Any idiot can grow a freakin' plant.

With help from Monsanto, yeah. But not just any idiot can grow SPECIFIC plants, or know where they will grow, or grow them without chemicals, or grow them so they have the most potency.
Read "Reefer Madness" if you want a good take of the drug program.
MaryJayWanna is the biggest cash crop in the United States. (Well, it was until the recent ethanol corn boom took off, but that will crash and burn and we'll be back to growing pot again.)
The whole thing has been blown out of proportion from the days when Hearst lobbied his government buddies to make Hemp illegal 'back in the day'. Ever since then, the real cash crop is the growing law enforcement and prison systems.
If you could convince CONgress that we could make ethanol from hemp, the criminality would disappear.

 

[grannysmith]

Would marijuana grow to be a major killer and homewrecker if it were legalized? I doubt it, but even if it did how do you choose which poison to be illegal and which not to be?

By determining which can be more easily regulated and taxed, duh. Micro-brew kits and home wine making courses have been available for years but you don't see everyone making their own booze, do you? Any idiot can grow a freakin' plant.

Producing decent weed isn't a matter of just 'grow(ing) a freaking plant' - you have to control lighting to force flowering and most, importantly, must prevent pollination of female plants (the 'all fem seeds' aren't reliable completely). It's not too tough but you don't just let it grow normally and then smoke it. Drying the buds is an art too.

On the whole homebrew is almost certainly easier to produce in decent quantities.

 

[auntiegrav]

On the whole homebrew is almost certainly easier to produce in decent quantities.

Yeah, but can you build the car that gets it down the mountain and past the Revenuers...?

;-)

 

[Chuckleberryfinn]

Evidently nature has decided that marijuana is suitable for the earth and for human use, otherwise it wouldn't be so goddamned amazing. Human laws have nothing on natural laws.

End of story.

 

[Verum]

gilbavel wrote..

The war on drugs is the U.S. government's biggest conspiracy--it's been proven they brought in huge amounts of illicit drugs on Bush 41's oil boats, going right past customs, on into the mainland.

I missed that. Would you mind presenting that "proof" again. And be sure to forward it to the DNC; I'm sure they'd find a use for it. (I'm stunned by what people accept as "evidence".)

 

[Brian Now]

I feel silly even stating that fact since there's no one alive who doesn't realize it.

What an incredibly narrow minded statement.

Ok, I'll bite. Why?
You would disagree that alcohol destroys more lives than pot? And by "destroy" I don't just mean kill.

 

[Mothra]

DUI's and such are cash cows for individual states. 30% of the budget in bucks county pa comes from DUI's. You can get a DUI in PA for ANY prescription medication, even if its yours. If they pull you over and test your blood and your cholesterol medication is in your system they will get you.

If you look at the history of Coke, weed etc you'll see that it was racism that got them banned. The History Channel did a great special on it.

I'm 42 and I lived the rock and roll lifestyle for 25 years. Lots of booze drugs and strippers. My body and mind is paying for it now. But man was it a fun trip LOL

 

[auntiegrav]

gilbavel wrote..

The war on drugs is the U.S. government's biggest conspiracy--it's been proven they brought in huge amounts of illicit drugs on Bush 41's oil boats, going right past customs, on into the mainland.

I missed that. Would you mind presenting that "proof" again. And be sure to forward it to the DNC; I'm sure they'd find a use for it. (I'm stunned by what people accept as "evidence".)

I'm stunned by what people think the DNC does while the RNC is busy running drugs. You think they don't know? Christ, Clinton was the best Republican president we ever had, and her husband will be when she's elected by the hacked machines.
Here's a looney book reference: "The Conspirators" by Al Martin
Or, "Crossing the Rubicon" by Michael Ruppert
Then, there's always the Iran Contra testimony. You think they stopped after that?
Another good book on the subject of illegal activities is "Legacy of Ashes". I haven't finished it yet, so I don't know what it says about Iran Contra. Just the first 50 years of the CIA is enough to make you wonder WTF we bother voting for. A friend of mine says "I never vote, that way I always get what I want".
Oh, and here's a good story, too:
http://www.nogw.com/download/2006_mex_us_ties_blow_bust.pdf
There's so much crooked shit going on with our alphabet agencies that it's a wonder we still have a freaking alphabet left!
"Hey dooooooode, you gonna do that Q or not?"
Marijuana is the country's BIGGEST cash crop. If the government wanted to stop the flow of drugs in this country, they should just legalize them and create a "family farming" program and destroy it like they have every other small farming enterprise: by HELPING us.

 

[The Pair of Cats]

Drugs are neither good nor bad and that includes legals such as cigarettes, alchohol, presciption drugs etc. and illegals such as weed, cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, ectasy etc.

Humans cannot be trusted to use any of the above in a moderate and sensible manner. The abuse of legal drugs is well documented as is the abuse of illegal drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, ectasy etc.
Weed is a very dangerous drug due to its insidious nature. People who use/abuse it are conned into the belief that marijuana "...has never killed any one!" or that it is a "soft" or "party" drug and not harmful in any way.
If you smoke the drug you open yourself to the same dangers as a cigarette smoker. If you smoke moderately i.e 1 or 2 cones a day or maybe a joint the risk is lower. The majority of people i know who smoke don't stop at 1 or 2 cones a day, they are smoking many times more than that. They may also be cigarette smokers as well just to compound the issue. The adverse affects on their lungs must be enormous.
The psychological effects of marijuana smoking is only now being recognised (although data has been around for quite some time) and psych wards are full of people who have been affected in some way by it.
Where i come from (Adelaide South Australia) the government decriminalised marijuana (on the spot fines for use in public and the legal ability to grow 1-3 plants for personal use) in the late 1980's and since then we have seen an explosion in organised, hydroponically grown marijuana, by crime syndicates which has also led to a flourishing meth-amphetamine market.

Those who are proponents of "legal" or "decriminalised" marijuana should look very seriously at weed as "..all is not what it seems!".

 

[BrandonD]

My opinionated 2 cents:

The legality of a drug has absolutely no relevance to how safe or dangerous it is. Drug laws and restrictions are not created to protect us, they are 100% motivated by finance.

Pot is illegal and alcohol is legal, there is really no other argument that needs to be made in support of this point of view. I don't even personally like pot because it makes you chill out and get lazy. I'm already chilled out and I don't like being lazy, but there are many in my circle of friends who take it on a regular basis and I can say from personal experience that it is absolutely harmless for the vast majority of people.

Since I've been involved in the music world, I've seen alcohol-induced fights more times than I can count. That never happens with pot, I've not seen it even once. It decreases aggression, a statement I'm basing upon observation.

Drunk driving accidents have happened to people I know. And yet I've never seen it happen with pot. In fact I've seldom seen people even drive under the influence of pot. They just sit there and eat and watch tv.

Personally I really don't care if marijuana becomes legalized because it's not my thing. But that doesn't change the fact that it's illegality is a complete joke.

 

[The Pair of Cats]

.....but there are many in my circle of friends who take it on a regular basis and I can say from personal experience that it is absolutely harmless for the vast majority of people.

Harmless in what way?

Since I've been involved in the music world, I've seen alcohol-induced fights more times than I can count. That never happens with pot, I've not seen it even once. It decreases aggression, a statement I'm basing upon observation.

I agree. i have been a professional muso for 20 years and alcohol and speed cause way more fights than weed. I have also seen chronic weed abusers get in plenty of fights over the sale, growing of weed and people stealing other's weed. Some of the worst beatings i have ever seen have been dished out by the weed smokers on someone who had messed with their dope.

Drugs are not the problem. PEOPLE are the problem.
If you are going to take a drug, find all the benefits and side effects first. Most people who smoke weed live in a fairytale land of "..hey man, weed won't hurt ya! Nobody ever died from smoking weed!" No but emphysema due to the combined effects of cigarettes and weed might. Smoking weed on its own could even do it.
Also some people experience psychological problems due to weed (not all). I have even seen people have psychotic episodes after smoking it.

I do think that marijuana has great medical benefits for those who have suffered through chemotherapy treatment and those who suffer from glaucoma etc.

And i agree that its irrelevant that drugs are legal or not because people will always find a way to get them and use/abuse them.