[highwayman]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/30/frank.marijuana/index.html

Decriminalize pot? I say yes. It will save the country billions of dollars, will allow law enforcement to focus on violent crime and will drastically reduce the number of people being sent to prison. While I disagree with the argument that weed is completely harmless - in some it causes depression, anxiety and, of course, is not good for the lungs, I do believe that is far less harmful than alcohol or cigarrettes, and certainly not nearly on par with the damage harder drugs can do to a person. It is not a "gateway" drug, as many like to claim, and most users are otherwise law-abiding citizens who are not a drag on society as a whole (unless they are imprisoned for possession, then they cost us all money). All of these points also overlook its medicinal benefits to sufferers of multiple diseases.

Some might say that decriminalizing marijuana is, in essence, saying it's okay to smoke/use it and telling kids that it's acceptable to do. While some might take that message away, again, compare it to alcohol and cigarettes - most parents/teachers warn kids about abusing those substances, and the same should follow for weed. What it does is give people the freedom to choose for themselves, without fear of government reprisal (and again, freedom to choose to use a mild narcotic that is not addictive and does not lead to violent nor anti-social behavior, as alcohol or harder drugs can). This should not take away a company's right to drug test (especially in industries involving driving or operating machinery), and there should also be some sort of a test developed, like a breathalyzer for alcohol, to determine if someone is too intoxicated to drive under its influence. I don't advocate complete anarchy, just some sort of reason in the legal system, especially since all of the current laws governing marijuana usage were drafted without any real knowledge of its effects or benefits and the thinking on the subject, by the legal system, at least, is tainted by years of misinformation and prejudice.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts on the subject.

Related: How America Lost the War on Drugs - very interesting and long read, assessing the various campaigns and attempts to limit drug use in America from the 70s to the present: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/17438347/how_america_lost_the_war_on_drugs/print (basically, $500 billion spent, millions of people in jail/killed in the US and internationally and drugs are as cheap and easily obtained as they were when the War on Drugs began 35 years ago).

[Ford Prefect]

I consider this a more important reason for me to vote than the presidency; Barack Obama is a given in Massachusetts, but the decriminalization issue, as far as I can tell, is up in the air.

[colecampbell666]

Now how did I know this would be about weed? I have several friends who smoke, and no, they do not suffer as many ill effects as the ones who drink and smoke cigarettes. One of them is the girl who was this year's valedictorian. I believe that it is less addictive than cigarettes, and less harmful socially than alcohol.

[Nuke]

dont make weed legal. then i would probibly do absolutely nothing with my life. besides its no fun when you dont have to dodge cops all day to get a dime.

[Mars]

High in public laws?

[highwayman]

High in public laws?

Probably just fall under the general classification of "public intoxication/DWI."

[Wobble73]

They tried to make cannabis a lower class of drug in the UK recently (From class b to class c) making it a non arrestable offence to be carrying a small quantity for personal use (Dealers however still were arrested). However, they put it back to class b when stronger and stronger strains of "Skunk" hit the streets and some people were stating they didn't know the longer terms effects of this type of drug! 

[captain-custard]

by criminalising cannabis and other recreational soft and hard drugs in its many forms our governments are guilty of financialy supporting terrorism and criminal organisations .

personally i think if you want to poison yourself with what ever drug you choose this should be your right , i also believe that the gouverments would then be able to control the quality and toxicity of these recreational drugs causng less deaths from "bad cooks" ... but then again would meth-amphetamine ever be the same?

by legalising the drugs and licensing the points of sale the educational and health issues could be addressed if your to drunk in pubs they stop serving you , if your too stoned they can do the same , this would also add useful revenue to the economy ....

its time we as citizens of the world take personal responsability for our actions and choices and this way maybe , just maybe  we will grow up....


and before you ask , i dont take drugs .....












except the legal ones.........

[WMCoolmon]

It's a mixed bag for me. Is there any kind of legal precedent? The only kind of thing I can think of in the States that is (A) Done for pleasure/recreational purposes (B) Doesn't provide any other benefits and (C) can be hazardous to your health without too much trouble, would be smoking tobacco. But even that has less of a risk; you have more motivation to OD on marijuana than to shove six cigarettes in your mouth and die from smoke inhalation.

[neo_hermes]

can you OD on mary jane?

[Jeff Vader]

can you OD on mary jane?

You can OD on anything, if you try hard enough.

[neo_hermes]

how much mary jane would it take though? wouldn't someone get sick of it before that ever happened? or fall asleep?...

[Mars]

The general theory is that if you're actually close to ODing on pot, it's incredibly hard to actually smoke more.


*bubble sound*

*arm fails*

*teenager strains to lift bong, collapses*

[Nuke]

after the 4th bowl your just so disconnected with reality that you cant really keep smoking it. by then your spilling your weed on the floor, getting bong water all over everything, youre incapable of rolling a joint or even operating a lighter. granted you can have several pre-rolled joints on hand but you will probibly pass out or fall asleep before you can smoke a dangerous amount. i know ive done it

[Jeff Vader]

i know ive done it

No doubt.

[highwayman]

can you OD on mary jane?

You would have to smoke two-thirds of your own body-weight of pot in 15 minutes to get a lethal dose (or eat one-third of your body weight in 15 minutes - you lose potency through smoking). Another gov't study was unable to find a reliable lethal dose of THC:

7.  Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called
an LD-50.  The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of
test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced
toxicity.  A number of researchers have attempted to determine
marijuana's LD-50 rating in test animals, without success.  Simply
stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to
induce death.

8.  At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around
1:20,000 or 1:40,000.  In layman terms this means that in order to induce
death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as
much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette.  NIDA-supplied
marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams.  A smoker would
theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within
about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.

9.  In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal
response as a result of drug-related toxicity.

If you take a very high dose of marijuana - like if you ate an ounce or more - you might experience hallucinations and have an unpleasant experience. But in terms of poisoning your body to the point where you'd become physically ill or experience organ failure, it is pretty much impossible to do under realistic conditions.

This is what happens when you "overdose" on pot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-iBJQFMvgo - you might do stupid things that put you in danger (if you have poor judgment to begin with), but the active ingredient in the drug itself has not been found to have killed anyone on its own, ever.

Other sources:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_you_die_from_smoking_marijuana
http://www.sirened.com/can-you-actually-die-from-an-overdose-of-marijuana
http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/mj_overdose.htm

[Ford Prefect]

Seriously, pot has a miraculous self-regulating property. It's not like alcohol, where the more you drink, the more you think you're not drunk enough. With weed, somewhere between the point at which you're crying as you imagine every particle of the universe singing as a voice in a thunderous, divine polyphony, and the point at which you forget how to answer yes-or-no questions/speak/blink/move, you cut yourself off.

[Mars]

lol... bunch a' stoners on these forums.

Seriously, pot has a miraculous self-regulating property. It's not like alcohol, where the more you drink, the more you think you're not drunk enough. With weed, somewhere between the point at which you're crying as you imagine every particle of the universe singing as a voice in a thunderous, divine polyphony, and the point at which you forget how to answer yes-or-no questions/speak/blink/move, you cut yourself off.

Amazing quote

[Jeff Vader]

lol... bunch a' stoners on these forums.

[NGTM-1R]

Thing is, I have yet to see a reason that if it were decriminalized it shouldn't be even more heavily regulated then tobacco, but nobody wishing to decriminalize it wants to touch that with a ten-foot pole. So, okay, sure, we'll talk when you're ready to deal with that.