Marijuana Legalization/Decriminalization Efforts

[BaneTheBrawler]

"Man, there's all this stuff the people want us to tax, and we just don't know how! Screw that, let's just make it illegal so we don't have to tax it."

[Nephlite]

I'm sorry Neph, but this is one of the dumbest fucking things I ever hear when legalization comes up.

They really don't know how to tax it? You truly believe that? There isn't any sort of crops or plants that are taxed...?

Aside from the fact that there is a precedent, the government can find a way to tax anything they wanted to. They always have.

I say a lot of dumb things, are you sure this is the dumbest?

Key word in what I said is "yet". You suddenly have a product that is knocking at your door that was once illegal and you don't have a defined set of guidelines for regulation and distribution. Making a policy or a a guideline for regulation/distribution doesn't happen overnight. Like most critics have said, while these states have so called "legalized" marijuana, they (the states) didn't think of the logistics of making this "legal" when the federal government hasn't said it was. "Yet" as in when the feds step in and drop their own policy on the whole issue which will make or break the "legality" of the state law. They will either say "Despite what you say, we say it's illegal and you have to change your law or else" or "Ok, you can have this, but we want X amount of dollars per gram/ounce/pound. This is how you do it. This is how you control it. This is who's authorized to do this, and this is the policy on governing it's sale."

Either way, the Feds will have input and that's where we (as a whole, not just law enforcement since we're also holding our breath) will actually get a defined black and white set of guidelines for the issue.

[Plow]

Or the feds will continue to largely ignore it, having no input whatsoever, but occasionally taking out producers in Cali purely to make a statement on behalf of the cartels.

Like it has been for years in terms of dealing with medical.

[Suvhater]

Or the feds will continue to largely ignore it, having no input whatsoever, but occasionally taking out producers in Cali purely to make a statement on behalf of the cartels.

Like it has been for years in terms of dealing with medical.

+1

Being illegal only makes something more lucrative.

[Arauge]

Or the feds will continue to largely ignore it, having no input whatsoever, but occasionally taking out producers in Cali purely to make a statement on behalf of the cartels.

Like it has been for years in terms of dealing with medical.

This. Guess what? Medical marijuana is still Federally Illegal as well.

[Gadritan]

I say a lot of dumb things, are you sure this is the dumbest?

I didn't mean you specifically broseph.

It's propaganda. It's an excuse, rather than a reason, as to why it's illegal. From a practical and logistical standpoint this has no real bearing on the legality of pot. There is a blueprint. We have the resources to refine it and make it happen in a reasonable amount of time. Legalization has been on The horizon for a good 20 years now. This isn't some new and incredibly complex problem. Comparatively speaking, this is elementary shit for our government tio "figure out."

[noblemountain]

It involves math and you know how our government is with math.

[shepardG]

Lol, I honestly think its still illegal because the entire reason for it being illegal was a prime example of how corrupt our own government has/ had gotten. By acknowledging that the government was wrong (which is what they would be doing in a sense) they take more credit away from what is (common man 's view of americas government) already a fairly shaky relationship with the people it's meant to serve. It's egg on their face at a time when they're too scared to get more egg on their face.

It's a shame, they propagate a farce to save face, instead of capitalizing on what could help reduce crime, arrests, and generate not only local tax revenue but also federal tax revenue. Not to mention the door way would be open for science involving hemp production, as well as the medicinal research.
Meh, makes me mad I tells ya!

[BaneTheBrawler]

Nah, anyone who would actually care about how corrupt government was ~100 years ago either already has a low opinion of the government or is so uneducated they wouldn't know the cause of MJ's illegality.

[djzombie]

If you want a great documentary about mj and the reasons it was made illegal to begin with check out the union.

entire thing is on youtube here, the first 10-15 minutes of the video go into why it was made illegal.

[Plow]

the God's prohibition thing is fucking awesome lol

[Sho]

Easily one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.

[Icywave]

very informative, i like it

[Cliron]

Alittle late RE: health concerns etc.

Personally my biggest and only gripe with Weed is the psychological effects it can have on people. Physically the drug is great, not addictive, pain reducing and a lot of other great stuff. However, my biggest issue is with the propensity to cause psychosis with its users and other mental health issues.

I (un?)fortunatly worked for the last year with people varying psychoses and it saddens me to think that a certain population of that cohort could have avoided a life long condition if they hadn't smoked 'that particular strain / that quantity of cannabis.

Even closer to home a friend of mine developed drug induced psychosis when he was smoking weed he wasn't familiar with in Portugal. We won't know if its just drug induced psychosis or psychosis for another couple of months, but even ascertaining that is rather difficult (as far as I'm aware).

I'm cognizant of the fact that both of these are anecdotal, but I've also had to research this (somewhat) extensively both at work and finishing up my psych degree. The effects of cannabis on brain oscillations and that of the difference between oscillations in those with schizophrenia and those who don't is very interesting; and if anyone is interested in this from a lay-mans perspective I've a pretty comprehensive/basic essay on the topic (with tons of boring neuropsych/ psych articles. The worst thing I learned I learned from it all was that it seems to be random. Some people seem to have a genetic vulnerability to psychosis from cannabis, which can develop to schizophrenia. To make things more complicated is that different quantities and different strains of the cannabis (which apparently I remember being told has been manufactured a lot stronger in recent generations((or is this bs?)).

I'm on two sides whether or not it should be legalized. On one side I wonder would the increased quantity of people smoking solely 'cause'/'correlate' with an increased occurrence of psychosis/ schizophrenia or would the fact that the strain and strength of the drug being harshly regulated have an effect on occurrence.

[Icywave]

Statistically we should always expect outliers. Genetic mutations are necessary for species' survival under extreme situations, but also create outliers, who often suffer from generally safe things to us.
Yet given the general understanding/sampling, also from my personal experience, marijuana induced psychosis is not a very common problem.

Another aspect of reason why marijuana should be legalized, I think, is that such prohibition law de facto discriminates and create difference classes of citizens.

In the state where medical marijuana is available, people who have better access to both information and resources to a doctor, get easily get prescribed a marijuana card, which enables them to possess and use a good amount of marijuana legally,
while others who get arrested for possession for non-sale use usually tend to be people who are have less access to information and resources, and a criminal record that follows further differentiate people who have from people who have not.
It is a self-feeding loop that creates a tremendous problem of division for our society, for no apparent benefit.

[Kohan]

Statistically we should always expect outliers. Genetic mutations are necessary for species' survival under extreme situations, but also create outliers, who often suffer from generally safe things to us.

This is absolutely true. As I've demonstrated over the years, I am a hardcore and well-educated advocate of marijuana legalization. At the same time, I am unfortunately one of those who cannot use it. I become sick, my equilibrium is too heavily affected, and I develop severe anxiety—all of which are things that marijuana usage, far more often than not, can aid in or altogether resolve.

I have tried consuming THC through: smoking, vaporizers, food, and liquid. I've tried various strains. Nothing works; I always have a severe and extremely unpleasant reaction.

Of course, this may make people wonder why I'm not deterred from legalization. For one, despite all of the aforementioned side-effects, it is the only thing that has ever enabled me to forget about my various pains for a while, those being related to a back injury, an improperly seated knee cap, and a degenerative disease. Anything else has deadened some pains while bringing others back into focus, or triggered a far more unwelcome reaction from me. As a result, I do not take medications, and am quite used to operating with pain. (No one, besides those I inform, knows that I even have any.)

Secondly, there's the very thing I quoted above. I have personally encountered many people who do not have the problems I have, and who specifically use marijuana to help overcome them. I am not a reason for legalization to be stopped, as the availability of marijuana presents another choice, and we should never be deprived choices, especially in a market filled with many far more harmful ones.

[Icywave]

unfortunately you have to miss out the good stuff... this is like being allergic to wheat lol, but maybe you will survive after world ends for some odd reasons, ha!

[Plow]

chris christie just gave a speech about what a failure the drug war is and how ridiculous it is that we're "warehousing" (his word) addicted people in jails instead of treating them

[Byrthnoth]

If we legitimately had a way to treat addicted people that didn't have a terrible compliance/relapse rate, I'd be more on board.

When you say "addicted" though, you aren't really talking about pot.

[Andalusian girls]

who the hell is going to jail for possession of marijuana