I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I’m generally opposed to drugs. I wouldn’t take weed even if it were sold in grocery stores. But I think it’s hypocritical to ban pot, but allow tobacco and alcohol. Either ban all of them, or permit all of them, but to single out marijuana doens’t make sense.
What are your random thoughts on cannibis?
I agree that it’s ridiculous that it’s illegal. IMHO, we should stop hemorrhaging money trying to track down and imprison people who use/grow/sell it, let the gov’t collect “sin tax” on it the way they do on alcohol and tobacco, and sell it right alongside those items.
I smoked pot a dozen or so times when I was younger (well, more like “ingested pot”, because not every party experience involved smoking; some involved baked goods). I won’t do it now because it could put my husband’s job at risk if I got caught doing it. But if it were legal, I could see myself making a batch of brownies every so often.
Not only do we (as a country) spend way too much money fighting it, but we present it to kids (in programs like D.A.R.E.) as being as harmful as much worse drugs, like crack and meth and heroin. So, kids get fed this message, then they get to be teenagers; they smoke it, a lot of their friends smoke it, and terrible things aren’t happening to any of them. So it’s logical to assume that if they were lied to about the dangers of marijuana, weren’t they likewise lied to about the dangers of harder drugs? Duh. It’s just stupid.
Legalize it, regulate it and tax it. But maybe that’s just me.
If you were talking about the marijuana of the 60’s & 70’s, I would agree with you, but my (very) limited experience with the more modern variety is that it is much more powerful, so much so that I would not put it in the same category as tobacco or alcohol.
Maybe I’m just getting old.
Having said that, I believe that most drug use should be decriminalized, if only because the the other way just does not work. Take the money now wasted on the War Against Drugs and spend it on education and treatment.
I love the stuff but I can’t smoke it anymore because it spurs binges for me.
First I get the munchies, then before I know it I’ve eaten everything in the kitchen. Easily thousands of calories.
People keep telling me it’s easy to drop because you “can’t get addicted to it”. I think that’s bullshit. Maybe not physically, but you can sure feel some physical symptoms of withdrawal like insomnia and nightmares when you do go to sleep. My SO has tried to kick it many times. I suppose he has an addictive personality, but he isn’t addicted to anything else.
I dunno. I guess it’s no worse than any legal and easy to get drug like alcohol. It should be legal…but I doubt that will ever happen in this country.
And Ethelbert, it depends on where ya get it if it’s stronger. Most of what we get isn’t strong at all because we are cheap and not willing to drive too far to get it. 
It should be legal, and that means legal to grow also. If I want to grow marijuana plants in my yard, I should be able to do so without paying a tax, and if I want to sell the marijuana that I grow in my yard to people, I should be able to do so without being penalized in any way. You don’t have to pay a tax on a tomato vine, you don’t have to pay a tax on a pear tree or a vegetable garden, so you shouldn’t have to pay a tax on cannabis plants.
They would collect very little if they were to try and enforce a “sin tax”. There’s a reason it’s called weed - it’s that easy to grow. If it were legal, everyone that wanted to smoke it would start a little garden and the government wouldn’t see a cent of revenue.
Tobacco and alcohol are not so easy to produce at home, so cha-ching on the taxes.
ETA: I’m not taking a position on whether it should or shouldn’t be legalized. I’m just saying that there’s no compelling reason for the government to want to.
Alcohol’s pretty easy, really. It just takes some time, so it’s much easier to just go to the 7/11. I’d imagine the same would be essentially true of marijuana.
I’ve always favored legalizing marijuana, but I think the penalties for driving under the influence should be as stiff as those for alcohol.
There was Big Taste back in the old days, too. (Ever hear of “Thai Stick”?) As well as plenty of El Cheapo. You just ran into some of the new Big Taste–or whatever they call the varieties featured in High Times centerfolds.
There’s still plenty of stuff out there that will just give a pleasant buzz. The It’s All Different Now meme is just an excuse for folks who smoked in the old days without notable damage to tell their kids to Just Say No. Instead of saying “it can cause legal problems” or “it can make you act stupid”–followed by explanations based on reality.
Alcohol is much easier to produce than marijuana. Most people buy it. Food is easy to grow and cook. Many still buy it and have it delivered. If pot was legal and highly taxed it would sell just fine.
There’s some debate as to whether that is true or not (most sources seem to say it’s not) but it’s kind of a moot point since THC has similar psychoactive effects regardless of dose, and most people stop smoking once they hit a certain threshold anyway.
I totally agree with this. People would purchase marijuana for the convenience factor. Look at vegetables. They are trival to grow and taste much better than the store-bought, yet you don’t see neighbors setting up produce stands in their garage.
And as far as the THC content, I would imagine that the stuff sold in stores could be regulated or people would self-regulate as they do today with alcohol. A liquor store sells everything from 0 to 200 proof. You don’t have to buy the everclear if you don’t want to. And even if you did, you wouldn’t have to drink the whole thing at one time. I imagine marijuana would be much the same. It would come in a variety of strengths depending on what you were looking for.
and I still say all drugs should be legal to those over the age of 18.
In my years of drug abuse, the legal status of any particular drug did not affect it’s availability. It only affected it’s price. And it’s price attracted unsavoury and violent characters.
It should be legal. I don’t care if we tax it or not (because I ain’t buying it) but if it’s legal we will save billions in enforcement costs.
I think legalization of marajuana is a cause that has suffered because of its supporters, which is why I’m putting on my best suit and tie and heading down to the legislature in an hour or so. There’s a huge impression that there’s no reason to call for legalization unless you’re a user.
We were so close, here in Canada, but there’s no sign of it anywhere near the table with the Conservatives. One day, I’m sure…
Marijuana plants are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. If it were legal I’m sure some people would like to grow them just because they’re so damn pretty.
I’m not sure I agree with you. I would like to think that there are plenty of people who don’t consume alcohol that agree with the taxes, people who don’t smoke who don’t mind the recent tax increase on cigarettes, people who don’t drive who don’t give a flying flip about gas prices. And on and on… I’m sure there would be some people out there who don’t or wouldn’t smoke if it were legal that would be supportive of taxation, because it could *potentially *reduce taxes on another front, say (with a very lax voice) property or school taxes. I’m just saying, it is possible. Not probable, but I’ll throw my hat in the ring. Your opinion of my motivation is your own.
Now you’ve lost me. I thought marijuana *was *legal in Canada, eh? 
The last time I was in Amsterdam, I understand that the law was that while technically it was still illegal, the use of marijuana / hashish was tolerated by the authorities, as long as you weren’t being a jerk. Similar to being “intoxicated in public”. Sure, you can drink, but just don’t be an ass. Is that what it is really like there?
P.S. Did anybody see last night’s Family Guy? LOVING IT!
Where’s the doobie smiley?
True. Beautiful plants. (Or so the pictures indicate).
Agreed. I mean, I smoked weed a few times in college - it produced a pleasant enough buzz, but I certainly wasn’t out of my mind on the stuff. I’d rank “sharing a joint with friends” somewhere around “doing a shot or two”- you’ll feel it, but it’s not like the stuff is smack.
Someone comes in and says this in every legalization thread. It’s not true. Corporations would leverage economies of scale and make individual pot production not worth it for the average smoker. It would be a hobby for some, like beer brewing, but the average toking populace would just buy it at the 7/11. It isn’t “easy to produce” at all, given that you actually need space to grow it and a lot of people don’t want to dedicate their gardens or garages or basements to drugs.
That said, even if 100% of the people who smoked grew it themselves or otherwise procured it outside of taxable channels, there are still great reasons to at least decriminalize possession and production. Plenty of time and prison space (and therefore, money) is wasted punishing “criminals” who would not otherwise be.
I’m not a pot smoker. In fact—at the risk of revealing myself to be terribly uncool—i happily admit that i’ve never used it. And this is not for lack of opportunities; i’ve been to plenty of parties where it was in ready supply, and i’ve lived with potheads in the past. I’ve just never been especially interested in it myself, even though i have plenty of friends who indulge on a semi-regular basis.
I think it should be legal, and think it’s outrageous that it’s not. I’m also hoping that the DEA and DoJ under Obama will leave medical marijuana providers alone in states like California where it is legal, although recent developments don’t give much cause for optimism on that count.
Last night I caught “Marijuana, Inc.” on CNBC. They were talking about how cartels were growing marijuana gardens inside US national parks. A DEA agent said with a straight face something like(I can’t remember the exact wording) “It’s a shame that parks set up to preserve nature are being used to manufacture poison”
I’ve only smoked a few times in my life, but I’ve known or know quite a few potheads. It is ridiculous that it’s illegal.