Yes, me. I would even refuse to use medical marijuana unless a doctor insisted that it was the only possible medication.
To me, it’s just 1) an unnecessary restriction of people’s rights and 2) not something that is constructive to criminalize.
Your post is misleading. No local governments in Oregon can override the state law making pot legal, the legal use, possession and growing amount are the same statewide.
Some local governments have elected to not allow dispensaries to operate in their areas. So people have to travel longer to get to a pot store, but it is completely legal to possess once you bring it home. There are no illegal areas in the entire state.
The counties that do not allow sales also do not receive any of the tax money. So they are slowly dropping their opposition to dispensaries and opting into the tax benefits.
Add me as another non-using legalization supporter. In my case, it isn’t even job-related–I’ve only had to have one drug test, and that was when applying for my first job out of college (a distressingly large number of years ago). I’m just not interested, and never have been. I don’t much like any external factor altering my mental state–I also don’t like to get drunk, and I’ve gotten by on over-the-counter analgesics rather than take prescription painkillers after a couple of minor surgeries. From my perspective, it’s not very different from being delirious with a fever or too exhausted to think clearly.
However, just because I’m not interested doesn’t mean I have a problem with other people enjoying it, and I hate the baggage that goes along with prohibiting it–racial injustice, excessive incarceration, militarization of police forces, and all the other wasted money and effort poured into fighting something that really doesn’t need to be fought.
I support legalization. I’m not sure if I’ve ever used it, I just can’t remember.
Vote yes.
As for the kids thing, I already had to talk to my kids about alcohol: why it’s OK for me to have a beer when they can’t, what’s the difference between use and abuse, how it affects your brain, health risks, etc. With pot now legal here, I had to have the same conversation with them about pot. I would have talked to them anyway, but legalization sped up my timeline and actually made it easier to start the conversation.
I would vote yes.Yes, a thousand times yes.
I would still not smoke it, but I think it should be legal.
Yes, sorry, that’s what I meant when I said “outlaw”. Sales and production are prohibited in much of Oregon. Most of the eastside (east of the Cascades) will have no stores selling it.
I hadn’t heard of any places changing their mind about sales. Which ones?
And even if it isn’t completely legalized, I 100% support rescheduling it. Even if we accept that it’s bad, it’s definitely not as bad as meth or heroin, nor worse than cocaine or morphine. Right now, the federal government classifies it as “OMG THE WURST DRUG EVAR!!!111!”, and that makes no sense at all.
It’s madness, I tell you. Madness!
Yeah, the regulators need to chill the fuck out. If only there was something that could help them with that…
Yes, please.
Changing it to Schedule II actually may keep it from being legalized at the federal level. Or at lease slow down the process. By going part way toward legalization, the impetus to completely legalize it loses momentum. A lot of people who think something should be done will then be satisfied and stop any further efforts.
I’m not sure that even Schedule II would be appropriate: That still seems too restrictive to me, comparing it with other drugs in various schedules. For instance, it almost certainly should be in a lesser (higher-numbered) schedule than most of the opiates. Most of the arguments against marijuana seem to be because it’s considered a gateway drug, but that sounds too much like the old joke about some sects disapproving of sex because it might lead to dancing.
But I’m not an expert in the subject of US drug schedules, so I can’t say exactly where it does belong.
Count me as another who has never used marijuana or any illegal drug. I just think it’s stupid that should be illegal. Given the choice between riding in the car with someone who’s been drinking alcohol and someone who has been smoking pot I’ll choose the latter every time. Also my father died of cancer, and pot was the only thing that relieved the nausea of chemotherapy and gave him an appetite. It genuinely is medicine.
If it were legalized in Arizona, we could watch Sheriff Joe’s head explode - I would consider that a net positive…