Let’s talk about marijuana

[cola]

Why is it that billy bob can get off a 10 hour shift and drink 12 coors beers and fall asleep in the tub but I can’t work the same 10 hours, do better work and take 2 tokes to mellow out when i get home without a random drug test being shoved down my throat?

its so dumb,
Thoughts?

 

[zekko]

I agree, it's dumb. I haven't cared for weed since I was very young, but I think it should be legal. Alcohol seems 1000 x more dangerous.

I'm not even sure what the motivation is behind keeping it illegal. You'd think all that propaganda demonizing it would have worn off long ago. You'd think even the conspiracy theorist types would say the government would want it legal - pacify the population, and all that sort of thing.

 

[forcerecon01]

I agree, it's dumb. I haven't cared for weed since I was very young, but I think it should be legal. Alcohol seems 1000 x more dangerous.

I'm not even sure what the motivation is behind keeping it illegal. You'd think all that propaganda demonizing it would have worn off long ago. You'd think even the conspiracy theorist types would say the government would want it legal - pacify the population, and all that sort of thing.

There definately stigma attached to smoking weed. Recreational marijuana like Cola suggests should be legal.

 

[samspade]

The tide is definitely turning on that, as many states are legalizing it.

I remember when I was young wondering why we couldn't just isolate THC and sell it legally in drinks, foods, pills, etc. That way you don't have to smoke it (health hazard/smells funky) and the government can tax it.

Well, decades later here we are. When my friend's dad was dying of cancer, he brought him some gummies. His dad was a God-fearing conservative man from the deep south, probably the last guy who'd blaze a bowl. But the gummies definitely relaxed him and eased the pain a little during a tough time. I think that's the kind of thing that will eventually normalize "weed." In the states where it's legal, you can get it in so many forms and levels of potency.

The other part of the stigma is that stoners for many years ruined weed for normal people. That is, you'd see these Deadheads and doofuses in their stupid hats and weed leaf t-shirts and hemp satchels and they talk like the biggest fukking idiots. It becomes this moronic lifestyle for them because it's all about defiance. But nobody ever thinks about the physician, or the financier, or the lawyer who might quietly unwind on a Friday night with a joint and some nice music.

And don't forget the military-industrial complex that gets a hard-on for these little narco wars because of drug laws that (duh) create a deadly black market. DEA jarheads that act like knocking over some central American drug lord = D-Day.

Finally, I remember Bill Maher saying in the 90s that companies like Pfizer don't want to compete with marijuana, because "they will LOSE." I'm sure they were lobbying against it for a long time, but attitudes changed.

 

[Bible_Belt]

The word marijuana was Mexican slang in the 1930s. Cannabis is the actual name. But the government started calling it marijuana because that word was associated with dirty brown people and has some nice racist overtones to fuel the fear based propaganda. I have read some of the 1930s newspapers. "Mexican, crazed with reefer madness, offends white woman." The story is that he looked at her, she called the cops, they beat him up and arrested him, and all of it was caused by reefer madness. That same story was run for years building up to the 1937 prohibition act.

 

[djreez88]

It really is misfortunate that it isn't federaly legal yet but things are starting to change. I agree though, stoners have given pot a bad name with they're hijinks and gof attitudes but luckily the tides starting to shift there as well. More baby boomers are starting to get on board

 

[jerrycalahan]

It's a crutch for mentally ill guys who can't handle the pressures of the real world.

It's a necessary cope for the weak.

 

[Kotaix]

I think legalization is inevitable at this point. Taxes on the sales in states where it's legal are thru the roof and we could finance a lot of public works and programs with that revenue. Money talks and bullsh!t walks. Not to mention the black market is huge and unstoppable.

The problem is having tests that can detect if you're high or not like you can with alcohol.

 

[Black Widow Void]

It's a crutch for mentally ill guys who can't handle the pressures of the real world.

It's a necessary cope for the weak.

And ... under what category do you categorize television, churches and beer?

 

[jerrycalahan]

And ... under what category do you categorize television, churches and beer?

Same.

 

[cola]

It's a crutch for mentally ill guys who can't handle the pressures of the real world.

It's a necessary cope for the weak.

You are joking right?

 

[Kotaix]

Same.

You strike me as the kind of person who thinks they know better than everyone else.

 

[EyeBRollin]

Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol but they both suck. Alcohol is somewhat useful when kept to a minimum.

 

[zekko]

Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol but they both suck. Alcohol is somewhat useful when kept to a minimum.

Marijuana is useful as well, for pain relief and cancer patients (and other things, I'm sure, I don't keep up on it). Look at all the CBD stuff that's popped up everywhere.

 

[Mike32ct]

I’m not against legalization. But I think these two are tired and weak arguments in favor of legalization:

1. “It’s not AS BAD as alcohol.” Even assuming that’s true, tell us about the PROS of pot instead. Alcohol is not relevant to this discussion.

2. “It will bring in tax revenue.” Governments can tax virtually anything. And then they piss away the money and end up in the red again.

Now if you think legalization will cut drug violence, then yeah, that’s a point worth arguing. Or helping cancer patients manage pain, sure.

 

[zekko]

1. “It’s not AS BAD as alcohol.” Even assuming that’s true, tell us about the PROS of pot instead. Alcohol is not relevant to this discussion.

I don't agree that it's irrelevant. Why should a person smoking pot be thrown in prison while a person consuming a more dangerous drug have liberty? Besides, why aren't the people against legalization of marijuana out instead campaigning to make alcohol illegal?

 

[Mike32ct]

I don't agree that it's irrelevant. Why should a person smoking pot be thrown in prison while a person consuming a more dangerous drug have liberty? Besides, why aren't the people against legalization of marijuana out instead campaigning to make alcohol illegal?

I absolutely agree that someone shouldn’t go to prison for pot use. And if you want to argue that it’s a waste of resources to prosecute pot users, I would agree completely.

But, back to alcohol vs pot, how would you objectively determine/quantify which drug is LESS bad? How would you convince lawmakers that one is less bad than the other? It might well be less bad, but I don’t think that line of reasoning is an effective way to convince someone to support legalization.

On the relevancy issue, any time I tried to have an honest debate with someone who is pro-legalization of pot, I ended up hearing an hour long analysis about alcohol lol.

 

[samspade]

I absolutely agree that someone shouldn’t go to prison for pot use. And if you want to argue that it’s a waste of resources to prosecute pot users, I would agree completely.

But, back to alcohol vs pot, how would you objectively determine/quantify which drug is LESS bad? How would you convince lawmakers that one is less bad than the other? It might well be less bad, but I don’t think that line of reasoning is an effective way to convince someone to support legalization.

On the relevancy issue, any time I tried to have an honest debate with someone who is pro-legalization of pot, I ended up hearing an hour long analysis about alcohol lol.

Fair questions. Obviously someone on marijuana is not fit to drive, work, operate machinery, etc.

But I believe a person who is high is less likely to be violent, for starters. People on weed tend to be more peaceful and subdued. Drunk people can be all kinds of things: Happy, angry, riotous, sad, sick, and generally more liable to make really poor decisions. Of course I have no science to back this up, lol.

But really I think all drugs should be decriminalized. Just another thing that government wastes resources on.

 

[djreez88]

It really is about freedom at the end of the day. That doesn't mean just smoke/eat some before work, a drive, or anything important that needs undivided attention. However, if I'm at my home as long as I'm not doing any harm to myself nor others the government nor employers should have no say in what I do.

 

[Bible_Belt]

tell us about the PROS of pot instead.

I would start with a discussion of the endocannabinoid system, which is present in all of us:

Endocannabinoid system - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

THC is the most widely known cannabinoid, but there are over 150 more, such as cbd, cbg, cbn, cbc, thcv & cbdv....we are just beginning to study most of them. Early indications are that they are all strong anti inflammatories, and also show potential to fight cancer.