POT's gonna save the economy! Are they serious?

[Troll]

Bit heavy for the Lounge, innit?

What about all those unemployed cops and DEA agents? They'd have to try and make it in the private sector.

Ouch.

I give you this: Conservatives are way more entertaining than Democrats when they argue for big government.

+1. You're either for the nanny state or against it.

I've been arguing marijuana legalization for years, and I guess my argument can be boiled down to one question:

What specific, unique properties does marijuana possess, that make it deserving of being illegal?

People make a lot of arguments about marijuana that can be easily applied to alcohol, tobacco, OTC and prescription medications, firearms and even fast food. However, those are all still legal (fast food probably not for long). I want to know what about marijuana, that is exclusive to marijuana, makes it so much worse than cigarettes, Tylenol PM, Jack Daniels or a triple bacon cheeseburger with gravy fries.

[marinejcksn]

Growing marijuana isn't as hard or involved as growing tobacco. For example Pot will grow almost anywhere,not so for tobacco.

If growing tobacco was easy don't you suppose at $4.50 - $8 a pack someone hasn't tried it already.

I agree a lot would go with convenience but more would grow their own. Grow your own gives you more control over quality/potency and lowering cost and escaping taxation .

I will agree that cultivating marijuana is easier than growing tobacco, requires much less area and effort. However I do believe it's somewhat costly, especially if you're going to grow it hydroponicly (spelling?) rather then outside. The alternative and ease will outweight the temptation to grow your own, I believe.

With that being said, only drugs which can be naturally locally grown (pot, 'shrooms, etc.) would be easy for people to harvest themselves and therefore skip the tax, but synthetic drugs which require more work or elements that aren't native to America (cocaine, for example) would not.

Then there's also the issue of potency, which is a huge reason that people O.D. They get used to an inferior product, ie a gram of coke with a low consistancy, and they get used to snorting a certain amount to get high. Next thing you know, they get a much more pure form of coke, use the same amount as usual and overdose. Legalization could seriously curb this. Imagine how quick companies like phfizer would market small amounts of drugs with a potency listed right on the label.

I dunno. The arguements for decriminalization/legalization of all drugs just extremely overwhelm the flimsy arguements in favor of maintaining the current prohibition, in my opinion. Like I said before, I'm not in favor of drugs nor do I use them but I find it disturbing to see how many of us who say we identify with Conservativism or that we are Conservatives who're willing to submit to Big Government in this way.

[Zeus]

I will agree that cultivating marijuana is easier than growing tobacco, requires much less area and effort. However I do believe it's somewhat costly, especially if you're going to grow it hydroponicly (spelling?) rather then outside. The alternative and ease will outweight the temptation to grow your own, I believe.

With that being said, only drugs which can be naturally locally grown (pot, 'shrooms, etc.) would be easy for people to harvest themselves and therefore skip the tax, but synthetic drugs which require more work or elements that aren't native to America (cocaine, for example) would not.

Then there's also the issue of potency, which is a huge reason that people O.D. They get used to an inferior product, ie a gram of coke with a low consistancy, and they get used to snorting a certain amount to get high. Next thing you know, they get a much more pure form of coke, use the same amount as usual and overdose. Legalization could seriously curb this. Imagine how quick companies like phfizer would market small amounts of drugs with a potency listed right on the label.

I dunno. The arguments for decriminalization/legalization of all drugs just extremely overwhelm the flimsy arguements in favor of maintaining the current prohibition, in my opinion. Like I said before, I'm not in favor of drugs nor do I use them but I find it disturbing to see how many of us who say we identify with Conservativism or that we are Conservatives who're willing to submit to Big Government in this way.

Myself I have been in favor of serious decriminalization and/or legalization of marijuana for quite some time. I just think some of the arguments advanced for/against are lacking in logic,truth & reason.

I also don't associate marijuana in the same category as Cocaine,LSD,crank, etc etc. Neither do I think or has it ever been remotely verified that marijuana is the gateway drug.

The situation is like most other situations of for or against the truths & facts get lost in the false claims & BS.

[Gingersnap]

Bit heavy for the Lounge, innit?

Maybe but the discussion has been surprisingly adult and non-crazy so far and someone is sure to post a tie-in between weed and the obesity epidemic and that will lead to porker jokes so I'll let it ride for a while longer. ;)

[Troll]

Neither do I think or has it ever been remotely verified that marijuana is the gateway drug.

That's the 'when all else fails' argument. All the drug addicts on earth did marijuana first, so naturally, if they had never tried marijuana, they never would have turned to crack.

I'll bet studies would show that most hard drug addicts smoked cigarettes before they tried harder drugs.

[Gingersnap]

I'll bet studies would show that most hard drug addicts smoked cigarettes before they tried harder drugs.

And I'll bet that even more of them drank coffee.

[Zeus]

That's the 'when all else fails' argument. All the drug addicts on earth did marijuana first, so naturally, if they had never tried marijuana, they never would have turned to crack.

I'll bet studies would show that most hard drug addicts smoked cigarettes before they tried harder drugs.

I used to know quite a few hard drug users and/or addicts. A lot of them wouldn't waste their time with pot,it wasn't the contact they were seeking.

[djones520]

Neither do I think or has it ever been remotely verified that marijuana is the gateway drug.

Bullshit it isn't. It starts with pot, then shrooms, then they work their way to acid. Then they'll start doing this stuff laced with the harder drugs. Pretty soon their snorting coke on the school bus.

I saw this happen plenty of times in little bum hick redneck Michigan. You mean to tell me that shit doesn't go down in the big cities?

[Gingersnap]

Bullshit it isn't. It starts with pot, then shrooms, then they work their way to acid. Then they'll start doing this stuff laced with the harder drugs. Pretty soon their snorting coke on the school bus.

I saw this happen plenty of times in little bum hick redneck Michigan. You mean to tell me that shit doesn't go down in the big cities?

We mean that most people who do smoke weed at one point or another just aren't that into it and they don't "go on" to anything other than craft beers and yoga. :D

[Zeus]

Study say marijuana no gateway drug

Marijuana is not a “gateway” drug that predicts or eventually leads to substance abuse, suggests a 12-year University of Pittsburgh study. Moreover, the study’s findings call into question the long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy for six decades and caused many a parent to panic upon discovering a bag of pot in their child’s bedroom.

Marijuana Not A Gateway To Hard Drug Use, Rand Study Says


Washington, DC: Marijuana experimentation by adolescents does not lead to the use of harder drugs, according to the findings of a RAND study released Monday. The study dismisses the so-called "gateway theory," and raises doubts regarding the legitimacy of federal drug policies based upon its premise.

"While the gateway theory has enjoyed popular acceptance, scientists have always had their doubts," said lead researcher Andrew Morral, associate director of RAND's Public Safety and Justice unit. "Our study shows that these doubts are justified."

After analyzing data from the U.S. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (which measures patters and frequency of self-reported drug use among Americans), researchers concluded that teenagers who tried hard drugs were predisposed to do so whether or not they tried marijuana.