Marijuana would really benefit from the free market. The difference between "okay" and "awesome" stuff could be marketed like the differences between cigarettes and cigars. True, you can plant it and harvest it, but I would say that 90% would prefer to just go to the convenience store and spend $5 to get a pack of joints.
Now, if it was legalized, would its restrictions more parallel alcohol or tobacco?
As a kid, pot was WAY easier to get than beer.
You ALREADY spend a ton of money sending pot offenders to jail.
The vast majority of pot smokers would rather buy the taxed stuff out of convenience.
No matter how much you whine on the internet; you're not going to stop people from smoking pot and that is the bottom line. So you may as well make SOME tax dollars on it and at least compensate for their health care costs, because (who would have thought), people who use pot illegally still get health care.
//I don't smoke anymore. But I am smarter than the average bear.
I just want impart the knowledge that the homegrown stuff grown by the home growing enthusiast will kick the legal E36 M3s ass. As for legalization I am all for it.
MitchellC wrote: True, you can plant it and harvest it, but I would say that 90% would prefer to just go to the convenience store and spend $5 to get a pack of joints.
Why would they sell them for lss than a pack of cigarettes? 
A 20pk of Js would run about $25.00 for generics and $50.00 for the Canadian E36 M3.
This thread sucks.
It took us three pages to start any fires, that's an improvement over most political discussions lately...
poopshovel wrote: This thread sucks.
I'm with you poopie.
I'm surprised somebody hasn't already brought Hitler into it.
Sarah Palin smokes pot because Hitler had glaucoma. And she likes American cars because they ARE better for the economy.
Be happy, the one thing most conservatives and liberals agree on is legalizing pot. I have no problem leaglizing it, and it you treat them like cigarette smokers they won't be able to find a place to smoke anyway.
ReverendDexter wrote:MGAMGB wrote: So which is it, Captain Freedom, yeah personal choice or control the populous? Make up your mind.I believe it goes something along the lines of "My rights end where yours begin."
Exactly.
MitchellC wrote: Now, if it was legalized, would its restrictions more parallel alcohol or tobacco?
Probably a combination of the two, but more like alcohol. I'm sure states and localities would pass laws that you can not smoke a joint in a public place or restaurant. Limit where it can be smoked in the same way cigarettes are, because it's still smoking.
But the effects of being stoned are more like alcohol than tobacco. So, laws against public intoxication and operating vehicles while under the influence could apply. You can't take a "booze break" at work, but you can take a "cigarette break". Don't let people take "pot breaks".
I bet it would sell well if legalized. Smokers already go and buy stuff at their local head-shop. They aught to be able to buy their pot there at the same time. That's just convenience.
What about drug tests? If pot was legal obviously you could not be fired for finding it in your system. I guess they would just not test for it? What about jobs with safety concerns (e.g. airline pilot)? Clearly you don't want them showing up drunk or stoned, but what about off the job? Heavy pot use can definitely have some lasting effects. I guess you could make it a restriction (can't work if you use it, even if it is legal), kind of like prescription meds?
aircooled wrote: What about drug tests? If pot was legal obviously you could not be fired for finding it in your system. I guess they would just not test for it? What about jobs with safety concerns (e.g. airline pilot)? Clearly you don't want them showing up drunk or stoned, but what about off the job? Heavy pot use can definitely have some lasting effects. I guess you could make it a restriction (can't work if you use it, even if it is legal), kind of like prescription meds?
Hmm... in aviation there's the "8-hours from bottle to throttle" rule. An airline pilot would get in major trouble for having any alcohol in their system while they're flying. Marijuana takes much longer to completely exit the system. Maybe is they institute an essentially identical rule that airline pilots are not allowed to fly with intoxicating substances in their system.
I don't even smoke, and I think marijuana laws are ridiculous. A kid here got caught with some in baggies and was thrown out of school for a year and a half and faces two felony counts and a misdemeanor. For having a damn plant. If he was caught here drinking underage (which many kids are), he would get at the most one year of probation at the college, and a $50 fine. Alcohol is hell of a lot more dangerous than marijuana. The penalty for a DUI is more lenient than what this kid got for having some green stuff in a bag. Pretty silly.
sooo, a stoner runs over a little kid. how does the cop tell if he is currently seeing starfish in the sky, just a little high, or smoked last week? orr.... is it all just going to be DUI (of anything). as in visibly impaired?
Autolex wrote: sooo, a stoner runs over a little kid. how does the cop tell if he is currently seeing starfish in the sky, just a little high, or smoked last week? orr.... is it all just going to be DUI (of anything). as in visibly impaired?
Same way the cop does now. If you are driving impaired, you are driving illegally. No new laws needed.
Besides, weed doesn't make you more dangerous behind the wheel, it just makes you miss more exits.
Joke...it's a joke! Ha ha ha a joke.
sounds fair. Can I buy a couple pounds now, you know, just in case?
Joe Gearin wrote:Autolex wrote: sooo, a stoner runs over a little kid. how does the cop tell if he is currently seeing starfish in the sky, just a little high, or smoked last week? orr.... is it all just going to be DUI (of anything). as in visibly impaired?Same way the cop does now. If you are driving impaired, you are driving illegally. No new laws needed. Besides, weed doesn't make you more dangerous behind the wheel, it just makes you miss more exits. Joke...it's a joke! Ha ha ha a joke.
The biggest difference is that the DUI checkpoints won't be outside the bar, they'll be at the entrance to the Kwik-E-Mart.
Are you being liking a Squishy with that Mr. Homer?
Newsflash:
GRM and High Times magazines consolidate!
The Scotts Company (lawn fertiziler,etc) is doing their best to NOT hire cigarette smokers. Some companies charge higher insurance rates for smokers, and no one can refute the evidence that smoking is unhealthy. If (non-wacky) tobacco was currently illegal, do you really think our government would want to legalize something so unhealthy?
Generally pot smoker smoke FAR less than a cig smoker, so health issue (other than a cooked brain with heavy use) are not usually an issue. Besides, legal joints could have filters!!
Generally pot smoker smoke FAR less than a cig smoker
Thanks for providing YOUR "opinion" on that point, how about some fact with it?
aircooled wrote: Heavy pot use can definitely have some lasting effects.
Like what? I mean, other than a collection of horrible music* and a penchant for tie-die, what long-term physiological affects have been scientifically linked to "heavy" marijuana consumption? I know of plenty of directly observable short-term effects, however, I've never seen anything that universally differentiates someone who's never smoked from someone who smoked heavily 20 years prior.
^^^Apparently there's a definite link between heavy marijuana usage and mental health (or lack thereof.) That sounds pretty sketchy, but I'm sure a google search would yield some proper science facts.
However, it's like you say, I know people who have smoked for many years, and they seem totally fine.
HiTempguy wrote:Generally pot smoker smoke FAR less than a cig smokerThanks for providing YOUR "opinion" on that point, how about some fact with it?
Oh come on now, now you are just being a d*&k do you really need a study to come to this conclusion. (I am starting to think you may need to take up the habit) But here you go:
...Among daily smokers aged 12 or older, 16 percent smoked fewer than 6 cigarettes per day, 31 percent smoked ½ pack of cigarettes per day, 36 percent smoked 1 pack of cigarettes per day, and 17 percent smoked more than 1 pack of cigarettes per day. A higher percentage of daily smokers aged 26 or older smoked a pack or more per day than daily smokers aged 18 to 25 or aged 12 to 17.... Source (table and all figures): SAMHSA 2002 NSDUH.
Now, I really don't think you need to go much farther than this. 67% of smokers average more than 10 cigarettes a day!! Do you really think there is a large percentage of pot smokers who smoke more than 10 joints a day!!! But here is a bit of data, since I know you will ask:
Marijuana users in the study smoked three or four joints daily for 15 years on average, while tobacco smokers in the study smoked 25 cigarettes daily over a period of 20 years, indicating a marked difference in exposure to smoke. Marijuana Less Harmful to Lungs than Cigarettes by Louise Gagnon Medical Post, Sept. 6 1994
As for for the "brain" effect I mentioned. I was really more referring to the fact that if you are stoned all the time, you aren't learning anything. Getting stoned all the time when young would seem to be a very bad idea (if you want to accomplish anything in your life). But here is some additional info (because I know you will ask):
...Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time. Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system3 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine.4 Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.
http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html
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