# Can't talk about legal marijuana? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 21, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885 "2013-10-21T23:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/1 "2013-10-21T23:34:05Z")
My thread about growing \*legal \*marijuana was deleted. We’ve had similar threads about, for example, making \*illegal \*alcohol which are open. There’s an intellectual disconnect at play, not suitable for a board which clams to be Fighting Ignorance. I’ll abide by this mod’s ruling, but it’s the wrong ruling for the wrong reason. I urge you all to think about a new policy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/2 "2013-10-21T23:52:15Z")
Well, you got a good Thread Title/Username going for you at least! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/3 "2013-10-22T00:24:15Z")
Write your congressman and ask what they can do to get the ball rolling on making it legal at a federal level. Until that happens, it’s still a crime to do it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/4 "2013-10-22T00:36:51Z")
You might be in Colorado, but others are not. The board is based in Illinois, and they have taken the view that things that are legal in the US as a whole are okay. And so it goes. I agree, great combo. I was surprised that your thread was nuked and not just closed. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/5 "2013-10-22T00:45:38Z")
Has worked this way the entire time the board has been in existence. Pot isn’t legal. Wish it was, but it isn’t. Can’t discuss or ‘encourage’ illegal activities. Hence, thread closed/nuked every single time. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/6 "2013-10-22T00:55:11Z")
In fact, the Powers that Be have historically taken an even harder line on marijuana than on other illegal substances in their moderation, since the name of this site unfortunately gives some the impression that we’re all about pot, and they want to quash that. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/7 "2013-10-22T13:23:25Z")
From the Registration Agreement: > [@SDMB registration agreement as of 12/21/2014](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-registration-agreement-as-of-12-21-2014/620957/1): > > You agree not to post material that in our opinion encourages activity that is illegal in the U.S Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level, and that’s what matters in this case. You can talk about drug use, but you can’t give tips or obtaining drugs or growing and handling them, for example. That’s pretty much what the thread was. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/8 "2013-10-22T14:41:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In fact, the Powers that Be have historically taken an even harder line on marijuana than on other illegal substances in their moderation… Indeed; for instance, posts discussing or even encouraging the purchase of pharmaceuticals from pharmacies outside the US have been permitted to stand, even though such activity is illegal in the US (albeit seemingly rarely enforced). ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/9 "2013-10-23T18:03:56Z")
In Baltimore, It is illegal to take a lion to the movies. I promise to never discuss lions here at the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/10 "2013-10-23T20:57:18Z")
So wait, if there is a thread about a movie I don’t like, all I have to do is mention that I took my pet lion to see it in Baltimore and thread closed? Sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/11 "2013-10-23T21:07:45Z")
I don’t know the full breakdown of Colorado’s “legal” marijuana referendum. But if it’s anything like the one we passed here in WA, then it’s _still_ not legal to grow marijuana on your own unless you’re a state-licensed producer. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/12 "2013-10-23T21:10:59Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > In Baltimore, It is illegal to take a lion to the movies. > I promise to never discuss lions here at the Dope. Crikey, I went to a “dumb laws in Maryland” page to see how we could abuse this and the first one listed: Oral sex can not be given or received anywhere. That’ll knock out a LOT of threads. If you’re talking about doing it while in Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/13 "2013-10-23T21:19:31Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > So wait, if there is a thread about a movie I don’t like, all I have to do is mention that I took my pet lion to see it in Baltimore and thread closed? > > Sweet. No. This is about encouraging illegal activity, not making reference to breaking a law. And it’s about federal law, not local laws. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/14 "2013-10-23T22:23:20Z")
> [@Bob's Zombie](#): > > No. This is about encouraging illegal activity, not making reference to breaking a law. And it’s about federal law, not local laws. Pssttttt…the feds have announced, in CA, that they will not enforce and regulation against the use or possession of marijuana as it related to the compassionate use statute. They must not be too threatened by that evil weed. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/15 "2013-10-23T22:55:36Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Pssttttt…the feds have announced, in CA, that they will not enforce and regulation against the use or possession of marijuana as it related to the compassionate use statute. Not enforcing the law doesn’t mean the law ceases to exist. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/16 "2013-10-23T23:08:37Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Crikey, I went to a “dumb laws in Maryland” page to see how we could abuse this and the first one listed: Oral sex can not be given or received anywhere. Any such law would not be constitutional (as applied to consenting adults in private) since _Lawrence v. Texas_. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/17 "2013-10-23T23:32:37Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Pssttttt…the feds have announced, in CA, that they will not enforce and regulation against the use or possession of marijuana as it related to the compassionate use statute. They must not be too threatened by that evil weed. > [@Smapti](#): > > Not enforcing the law doesn’t mean the law ceases to exist. Right. The law on the federal government’s books has not changed. Sorry. This isn’t about my/our personal opinions, it’s about a policy intended to prevent trouble for the board. And none of the above applies to the OP since he’s not in California. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/18 "2013-10-24T00:03:31Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > In Baltimore, It is illegal to take a lion to the movies. > I promise to never discuss lions here at the Dope. > [@Chimera](#): > > So wait, if there is a thread about a movie I don’t like, all I have to do is mention that I took my pet lion to see it in Baltimore and thread closed? > > Sweet. I think the policy works the other way. You can’t discuss an activity that’s illegal at the federal level even if there’s no local law against it. But you can discuss an activity that might be illegal in some localities as long as it isn’t illegal nationwide. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/19 "2013-10-24T00:05:29Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Crikey, I went to a “dumb laws in Maryland” page to see how we could abuse this and the first one listed: Oral sex can not be given or received anywhere. Not even in the mouth? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885/20 "2013-10-24T00:08:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not even in the mouth? Especially not there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-talk-about-legal-marijuana/671885.md?page=2)