# 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:** 3
**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 18, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/41 "2015-03-18T01:46:32Z")
Point of reference regarding medical marijuana: there are varieties specifically grown to target pain, and that produce a very minimal high. ---
**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 18, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/42 "2015-03-18T02:57:32Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Is that the fault of the smoker? Or the half-assed laws that produce “medical” marijuana in the first place? Yes. Convoluted is the word of the day. Good Lord, if you have pain that can only be relieved by THC you have my sympathies. Smoking a joint while walking down the street doesn’t constitute medical relief in my book. Spoken as an ex-pot-head. YMMV, just responding to the OP. ---
**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 18, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/43 "2015-03-18T03:09:37Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > A pox upon your house! Pot doesn’t stink; It’s pungent! There’s a difference. > (And, in its raw, unsmoked form, it’s rather fragrant). 😃 ---
**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 18, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/44 "2015-03-18T03:16:42Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Excuse me?? That’s one of the best parts of the experience, that wonderful smell. Both before it’s lit and while it’s being smoked. Perhaps it’s an acquired taste but I certainly hope they don’t fuck with the smell. Or at least keep the original stinky stuff available. 🆒 I almost asked if you were high, then I considered the thread. 😃 Seriously, though, the smell of skunk is really sharp and harsh, but it doesn’t seem to linger in my nose the same way weed does. ---
**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 18, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/45 "2015-03-18T03:19:38Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Point of reference regarding medical marijuana: there are varieties specifically grown to target pain, and that produce a very minimal high. True. I would post cites to back you up but it is time to put the kids to bed. Good point though. I believe we have all totally hijacked the original intention of this thread. Sorry **jsgoddess** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/46 "2015-03-18T06:49:33Z")
Everybody’s entitled to their harmless vice. But they should make sure it doesn’t affect others as they go about their day. That’s pretty much it. Don’t irritate others with your stank. ---
**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 18, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/47 "2015-03-18T12:57:32Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Hopefully once it’s legal the companies producing/selling the stuff will find a way to make it smell better. Menthol-juana. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/48 "2015-03-18T13:42:06Z")
It used to smell good, and different kinds had different scents. I don’t know when or why skunk-weed became the norm. I really don’t see how one could be trapped behind any offensive odor on a sidewalk, out in the open, with all the options available to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/49 "2015-03-18T13:56:59Z")
> [@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 think this has less to do with legalization and more to do with plain old bad manners. I suspect there will be a frenzy of public pot smoking as the legalization wave washes across the good old US of A, but hopefully it won’t last, once the novelty wears off. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/50 "2015-03-18T14:00:42Z")
If someone feels free to smoke next to me, I feel free to fart next to them. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/51 "2015-03-18T14:07:51Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I see you haven’t been to Berkeley much in the past thirty years or so. So you were at Berkeley? ---
**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 18, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/52 "2015-03-18T14:30:22Z")
In, not at. Grew up in the East Bay, worked in Berkeley for a few years, then lived there for a year or two. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/53 "2015-03-18T14:38:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If someone feels free to smoke next to me, I feel free to fart next to them. If someone feels free to fart next to me then I feel free to punch them in the face and then pee in their nose. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/54 "2015-03-18T15:33:36Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > I think this has less to do with legalization and more to do with plain old bad manners. I suspect there will be a frenzy of public pot smoking as the legalization wave washes across the good old US of A, but hopefully it won’t last, once the novelty wears off. Or, like tobacco, maybe pot will be legal but you can’t smoke it in a public building, or in certain parks. Only in front of \*\*jsgoddess \*\*on the sidewalk, or your private deck just below hers. ---
**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 18, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/55 "2015-03-18T15:37:06Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Or, like tobacco, maybe pot will be legal but you can’t smoke it in a public building, or in certain parks. Only in front of \*\*jsgoddess \*\*on the sidewalk, or your private deck just below hers. I’ll be the pot cloud version of Rob McKenna. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/56 "2015-03-18T15:46:03Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > If someone feels free to fart next to me then I feel free to punch them in the face and then pee in their nose. If someone near me feels free to punch a farter in the face and then pee in their nose, then I feel free to make a viral video of it. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/57 "2015-03-18T15:48:07Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > If someone near me feels free to punch a farter in the face and then pee in their nose, then I feel free to make a viral video of it. If someone makes a viral video of it, I feel free to watch said video while smoking weed and laughing like a fool. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/58 "2015-03-18T16:07:09Z")
> [@Bumbershoot](#): > > If someone makes a viral video of it, I feel free to watch said video while smoking weed and laughing like a fool. If you do that next to someone who has **Adaher** ’s philosophy you risk starting a recursive subroutine and crashing the universe when it runs out of stack space. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/59 "2015-03-18T16:24:59Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > If you do that next to someone who has **Adaher** ’s philosophy you risk starting a recursive subroutine and crashing the universe when it runs out of stack space. That would stink. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210/60 "2015-03-18T16:53:14Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Point of reference regarding medical marijuana: there are varieties specifically grown to target pain, and that produce a very minimal high. And you can probably count on your fingers the number of people who actually grow those varieties. One downside that has been noticed in Michigan, which has legalized medical marijuana: an upswing in crime around the dispensaries. Both from break-ins at the dispensaries, and from people robbing customers for their weed. As a result, a number of cities are starting to treat them like strip clubs and are passing ordinances prohibiting them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-to-legalizing-marijuana/715210.md?page=4)