# The downside to legalizing marijuana **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210 "2015-03-17T16:50:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/1 "2015-03-17T16:50:58Z")
This morning I was trapped walking on the sidewalk behind someone stinking up the world with his skanky, skunky weed. Cigarettes were bad enough. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/2 "2015-03-17T16:52:54Z")
In Colorado, it is illegal to smoke in public. This is likely to be the future path, and the end-game for Tobacco. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/3 "2015-03-17T17:13:27Z")
I see you haven’t been to Berkeley much in the past thirty years or so. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/4 "2015-03-17T17:58:55Z")
I find that second hand joint smoke does not make me mellow OR give me the munchies. I just want to throat punch someone. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/5 "2015-03-17T18:53:29Z")
Whoa there! Maybe some first hand joint smoke is in order… ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/6 "2015-03-17T19:00:56Z")
Well, I don’t know about second hand smoke, but after driving down Broadway yesterday past all the dispensaries (and yeah you can DEFINITELY smell it big time), we did make a big McDonald’s run before getting home. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/7 "2015-03-17T19:01:42Z")
Plus side: tax that. (Certainly in the UK, if a toker chances upon another toking stranger, the phrase ‘tax that’ will get you a free lungful). As for those who find they’re no longer allowed to hate the usual targets but have lucked into hating smokers instead, go do something useful. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/8 "2015-03-17T19:10:52Z")
I can live with it. My friend has lupus and fibromyalgia and her pain is chronic. Prescription meds don’t touch it. Pot does. So yes, I can put up with a little stink. (I live in WA). ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/9 "2015-03-17T19:33:57Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > I can live with it. My friend has lupus and fibromyalgia and her pain is chronic. Prescription meds don’t touch it. Pot does. > > So yes, I can put up with a little stink. (I live in WA). I used to be a pot-head before the day. Not anymore, but if it relieves medical pain, I am all for it. That aside… “medical” use for some people is just an excuse to get high. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/10 "2015-03-17T19:42:15Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > I used to be a pot-head before the day. Not anymore, but if it relieves medical pain, I am all for it. > That aside… “medical” use for some people is just an excuse to get high. I need an ‘excuse’?? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/11 "2015-03-17T19:46:36Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > That aside… “medical” use for some people is just an excuse to get high. Also true for plenty of people with prescription pills. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/12 "2015-03-17T19:47:17Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > This morning I was trapped walking on the sidewalk behind someone stinking up the world with his skanky, skunky weed. Cigarettes were bad enough. Blech. I honestly don’t know how to address this, Cigarette smoking is a battle I am fighting myself and I try to avoid people who would be offended. Was this person openly smoking a joint? Why were you “trapped”? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/13 "2015-03-17T19:49:28Z")
> [@Jack\_of\_Words](#): > > I need an ‘excuse’?? Yes. You gonna bogart that whole thing? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/14 "2015-03-17T19:53:30Z")
[QUOTE=wguy123;18213927H] Also true for plenty of people with prescription pills. [/QUOTE] True. However it doesn’t smell as bad. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/15 "2015-03-17T20:05:10Z")
Plus, it [cuts into Uncle Joe’s operation](http://www.theonion.com/articles/biden-worries-legalized-weed-in-dc-will-cut-into-h,38210/). ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/16 "2015-03-17T20:07:50Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I find that second hand joint smoke does not make me mellow OR give me the munchies. I just want to throat punch someone. Validated and noted. Please don’t throat punch me. I wasn’t there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/17 "2015-03-17T20:36:30Z")
People are free to plant ginkgo trees, douse themselves in “White Diamonds” or Axe, and spread sour mulch, manure, and compost all over their property. I’d much rather smell a little smoke than put up with the dozens of other offensively smelly things people do in the course of their every day lives that no one gets their panties in a bunch about. Get over yourself. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/18 "2015-03-17T21:03:35Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > People are free to plant ginkgo trees, douse themselves in “White Diamonds” or Axe, and spread sour mulch, manure, and compost all over their property. I’d much rather smell a little smoke than put up with the dozens of other offensively smelly things people do in the course of their every day lives that no one gets their panties in a bunch about. Get over yourself. Dude, relax, you’re harshing my buzz. I was all mellow, jamming out to some wicked Trey Anastasio tunes… and then all this negative aura comes intruding on my personal liberties, man. Now I don’t even want these Doritos. Tres uncool, bro. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/19 "2015-03-17T21:16:20Z")
I want admire **jsgoddess** for their restraint. It seemed bad enough to follow a trail of pot smoke down the sidewalk. Now the OP has to put up with silly jokes. And nobody even offered the OP a Snicker bar dang it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/20 "2015-03-17T21:25:00Z")
I’m with jsgoddess. I loathe the smell of the nasty stuff. Way stinkier than back in the day it is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210.md?page=2)